The Disciple
by DarkMasterStarr
Summary: Starved for attention, respect, strength, and convinced becoming a ninja is the only way to achieve his goals, Naruto Uzumaki is a person who wants to become a shinobi at all cost. Willing to give his whole loyalty to someone who's willing to give him that chance to become strong. That only attracts vultures, vultures like Root.
1. One

**A Quick Note: **I haven't updated my profile, my stories, or my chapters in a while.

Well, shit. I haven't update any of my stories. Why? I could blame it on trying to find a job, having other personal problems in my life, wanting a break from Fanfiction (a break that was once two weeks, then a month, then a few), stuff like that. However, that's not the problem with me.

In reality, the biggest issue with me was this: I lost the urge to even write anything. Fan fiction and beyond, really. I don't know where it started; perhaps I became disillusioned by fanfics online. I know, stupid.

So, now, I'm kind of in a tight spot with Stop The Future. I really want to complete the next chapter, and I like the direction the story is going in, but I want to rewrite it, to redo it. I enjoyed writing the original story, but it has a lot of mistakes that are too glaring for me to ignore.

Whether or not I do a redux of it, I decided I'm going to update with an Author's Note on the original S.T.F. very soon as soon as I get a newer beta and I redo the first chapters of Stop The Future again. Only then, will I feel ready to re-post up a newer chapter/story.

So, yeah, I'm not dead. Not quite, and I haven't given up on Stop The Future. I got ideas for it, and newer content beyond Stop The Future. I'm trying to get my groove back.

This story, was just that... To get my groove back. I got a few chapters done already with this story. Five, to be exact, with the sixth one being written as you read this. I'll upload the next chapter after a little while, maybe in a week or two.

Now, onto the story itself. A little something for you to know I'm not quite finished with fanfiction. I revised this story myself, without the help of a beta, and only with a grammatical helping devise. Hopefully, it's not so bad grammatically. Enjoy reading.

And before you ask, no, I do not own _Naruto_, the techniques that appear here that appear in canon, or the canonical characters. Heh.

* * *

One

I wanted to be a shinobi bad, ever since I was 4. They were always so cool, so amazing to me.

They had power, power I only read from comics, and heard from stories. Powers to run on water, to manipulate that same water, and turn it to an awesome technique that could defeat their foes. They were warriors of light and shadows, they walked amongst us, and they protected us. Like samurai, only better.

They commanded respect. I didn't have respect. I was young, but I knew people didn't like me. I didn't have to ask if they did – I knew what many people in this village thought of me. Besides a few people I knew, the village's antipathy was focused on me. That had been the main focus of why I wanted to become a ninja of Konoha. Even beyond that, I wanted to become the Hokage. He was the greatest of all the shinobi. He commanded them, and they followed. His word was the law's, and he commanded respect. I wanted to be him, and I wanted to be the greatest shinobi of the village. The Hokage was such a person. So my goal was clear.

In order to do that, however, I had to start small. I was smart enough to know that you could not become a Hokage if you didn't have anyone in the village recognize you, or respect you. If you lacked respect, how could you command your followers? How could you command ten thousand soldiers who were powerful in their own right, and keep them line if you didn't have respect? Power meant nothing if no one respected you. So I had to start small. Baby steps.

It hadn't been the first time I _have seen _Shinobi however. It was hard not to see them. They lived around the village, they worked nearby me, they were the guardians of this large place, and some even owned the shops I fought myself trying to get into sometimes. I understood what they were, maybe not what was like to _be_ a ninja or what tasks were asked of them by the village, but I knew they were people of great importance. Not everyone could be one. Something like that appealed to me. Ninjas mattered, and they were shown reverence; something I wanted more than anything. I knew what I wanted to be. I no longer wanted to be that kid crying about a lack of mommy or daddy, or to be looked at with those _cold, resentful _eyes anymore. I wanted to be strong. I wanted to matter, I wanted people to acknowledge me.

It took years for Sarutobi-jiji to finally agree and sponsor me through the Academy, but it finally happened when my six birthday passed. One day, I was pulled into my grandfather-like figure's office and he sat me down and told me I would be accepted into the Academy. The old man Hokage told me he would enroll me in the Academy of Konohagakure next week. I never smiled so largely in my entire life. The first bowl I ever had of ramen didn't make me smile in joy like this.

So when I was six, I was officially an academy student. I could remember what the first day felt like, as I smiled about it bitterly.

The first day was the worst day of my life. When I stepped on the soil of the Academy's grounds, it had been the most awkward and nerve-wracking thing. The chūnin that accompanied me to my class hadn't been much help at all. In fact, I couldn't help but to think the chūnin ninja hated me too. I could feel myself being glared at, when I was walking in front of him. The man was trying to bore a hole into my head with his pointed stare. I was sure, because I caught him doing it when I turned around to point to the class I belong to. We walked straight inside, with people all glaring at me, staring at me like I was a foreign creature. A rabid animal. Like I was a dog that killed someone, and I needed to be put down.

And then I tripped. Fell flat on my _freaking _face. I didn't know if I tripped myself or if someone was cruel enough to stick their foot out for me to trip on, but I fell. The floorboards were rough, and I'm sure I scraped myself even but that never mattered. Scraping myself wasn't the thing that hurt. Nothing hurt more than to have almost _everybody _laugh at you there. That hurt more than any bruise. The chūnin who was escorting me to my classroom didn't even help me up to my feet. It had cemented my former thoughts about the ninja. He hated me, and he was smiling cruelly when they were laughing at me. I've seen it.

The first day was like that for a while in the Academy. Awkward, unpleasant and at times, unbearable. It was like everyone hated the new kid in the class. Originally, I thought it was because I was the new kid at first, but it was something more... I was different, much like I was in that orphanage I lived in. Almost the whole school faulty hated me for some reason and I couldn't stand it. The teachers, the assistant teachers and even the kids. It seemed like all the kids of the classes had hated me, much like their parents did and nobody wanted me around them. The animosity made it incredibly hard to concentrate on _anything _in class.

My determination was slowly being eaten away by a lot of the stress. I didn't come to school with a smile everyday like everything was going to be fine. I wasn't confident as much as I thought before, and some days I wanted to quit, to go and ditch class. To which I did. Sometimes, I just didn't show up to class, opting to just stay at home and make an ass out of myself outside, pranking people. I got captured and caught a few times playing pranks on some of the local shopkeepers, especially those who sent me dirty looks sometimes when I passed their shops. The Military Police Force were the ones who caught me sometimes, sometimes even ANBU. Every time, I was sent to the Hokage and he would reprimand me, wondering why I was doing any of this, why the heck I was acting out.

I had my reasons. School sucked. It was terrible. It blew. I wasn't learning fast enough. I wasn't getting it as quickly as my other classmates. The knowledge taught there, the techniques, nothing. Nothing was sticking in my head in school, nothing at all. Because of that, I was teased, taunted, and bothered. I made myself more of an outcast when I started pulling pranks, but I was desperate for someone to pay attention to me. I was.

In the Academy, they didn't even care I was failing. Oh, they care to tell me I was, but not enough to sit down and tell me what I was doing wrong, help me with my problems.

It wasn't everything was giving me trouble though. My first few years in the Academy weren't a problem. Actually, it was only my last year in school that gave me trouble. I picked up on history, geography, basic math, and such like that slower than others, but at least I passed with decent grades. I could tell you how many hand seals were there and what animal they were named after. Yes, my taijutsu and my aim with shuriken and kunai were decent. It wasn't anything special, but I was at least passable with a B in that class.

But when it came down to the application of my skills, application of the ninjutsu they gave us, I struggled with every single one, no matter what. The first few years, weren't a breeze, but they weren't the hardest thing. Year 1, they teach you math, how to read and write, history of the world, etc. Lots of tests. Crap like that. The second year, they start teaching us about chakra, how to use it, hand seals, and then finally about the three main jutsu – genjutsu, taijutsu and ninjutsu. It was also the year where we would practice with some light weaponry, with kunai, senbon and shuriken. The last year of the Academy, when I just turned 9, was the year when it started to wind down.

That year, we learned about chakra control, and then we were given four techniques to work on. It took me a week to figure out how to use the **Nawanuke no Jutsu** properly without messing it up. It was a very useless technique. Outside of breaking rope, it wasn't all that good for anything. My mastery of the **Kawirimi no Jutsu** took longer than that, and my **Henge no Jutsu** mastery as well. They were the least of my issues.

No, the fourth technique was the biggest hurdle. The **Bunshin no Jutsu**. The worst technique in the Academy in my opinion. My **Bunshin** was terrible. I couldn't stand how frustrating it was. I summoned the right amount chakra I believed, I did the right hand seals, I exhibited the right technique. My clones looked dead – they always looked dead when I tried the technique. I never got it down before my graduation test came.

Then came the day when graduation time was going to happen. I failed terribly on everything and honestly, I wasn't surprised. Everything was just so, so bad.

I never wanted to go back. May 14 was my graduation date. I was not focused that day. I was too nervous, worried about every little thing. What if my **Kawirimi** sucked? What if my **Henge** wasn't on point? What if my **Bunshin** didn't come out well either? Summer was coming and everyone was out of the Academy, either graduated and they were now genin or simply ready for the next semester to try again. I wasn't ready at all.

I heard some lady and her friend whisper that they were glad a kid like _me_ wasn't allowed to graduate, and glared at me openly before walking away. In the back of my mind, I couldn't understand why anyone could be so cruel. It had almost made me cry openly. Were orphans that damn dreadful to be around? Did I do something wrong? Did I say something wrong? Did I do something to someone in another life? I couldn't understand it.

The next semester was right around the corner; next week would start another school year for me to try again. I couldn't do it again, not this fast.

The next few days I had spent around the village, I had been moping and crying about it, much to my later disgust. Sarutobi-jiji had come around to comfort me, but it honestly couldn't bring me out of this funk. No one could, and the only people that tried were him and the nice Teuchi and his daughter, Ayame. I spent the next few days stuck and crammed in my room, and then on the fourth day, I went outside to practice.

Hours of frustration on end, I gave up, feeling not exhausted but just tired of trying with the techniques. No matter what, **Bunshin no Jutsu** was the hardest thing I could do. My clones laid on the floor many times, lifeless. There was no one to ask for help at all. So I kept at it, training in a public training ground by myself for hours. I would have not found a solution if one day a man did not approach me.

It was an evening, as I liked to practice an hour before I went to go eat dinner at Ichiraku's. A little training wouldn't hurt before I restarted another year in the Academy. I was determined to pass school. So I went to the training grounds open to the public, and where many people who were in the Academy frequented. However, it would be empty now the class I was apart of graduated. That was fine with me though, since I didn't want to see anyone.

Unfortunately, after being alone for a few minutes, an old man with a cane came in the same training grounds as I. He looked towards me with a silent gaze, and I returned it with confusion. _'The heck was he staring at?' _Trying to ignore him, I tried focusing the chakra necessary for the technique. "..."

I felt the chakra build up, and I attempted the **Bunshin no Jutsu **again. Unfortunately, the technique once again failed. I know it failed. That familiar feeling in the pit of my stomach, that nervousness I had before the last bit of chakra gathered up together to execute the technique. Then, next came this. At my feet, the failure of the technique laid – literally on the ground. Why have my clones _always _looked so sickly? It was embarrassing! Slumped on the ground, lifeless, like my chakra was killing them.

As I thought to myself, in the corner of my eye, I have seen the man approach me slowly, his face flat.

I got a closer view of his features. He walked up, with a black robe over his white shirt. His face is marred with wrinkles, and he looks just as old as Sarutobi-jiji. His face was calm, one black eye stared at me as I tried the **Bunshin no Jutsu** again. The other one was covered, giving the distinction that he had only one eye.

I turned away. Feeling his intense gaze on my back, I got suddenly nervous, and I completely screwed up my technique. Another dead-looking clone laid at my feet again, looking possibly worse than my first one.

"It seems you are having trouble with this technique, child." He finally said, after several minutes of being in my presence.

I hold back a sarcastic snort. _'No shit, old man.'_ However, I don't say anything hostile and continue at it. Another application of my chakra in my hands, the same number of hand seals as before, and I tried it again... And I failed it. "Why isn't working?" I whispered to myself, and I started to do the hand seals again slowly.

"How long have you been trying to use this technique, boy?" The man queried.

I grunted and said, "All day. No progress so far."

"It looks like you're missing something. Is there something in the Academy that they taught you about this technique that you are not applying?"

"No, nothing!" I shouted back, getting more annoyed as I tried concentrating again. This man was starting to get on my nerves. I didn't even know him, yet he was looking over my shoulder like a doting teacher. I do the hand seals again for the technique – ram, snake, tiger. I try to channel a good amount of chakra into the technique, but it fails again. I look at my clone, and immediately snarl at my failure. "Shit, shit, shit!"

"What is it?" The man said calmly, annoying me even further.

"I can't do it... I tried so hard, but nothing's working!" I growled out, my anger reaching its boiling point.

"Hmm, perhaps you are simply not focused-" He tried saying, but I immediately interrupted him.

"What do you know?! I'm trying to focus, but everything's annoying me!" I almost said '-including you, old man!', wanting to say it so much, but I didn't in the end. I growled out at him, bared my teeth at the old man. I was close to lashing out at this guy. "How could you possibly know of my struggle in the Academy? I tried this for an entire year, but I haven't gotten any progress with this stupid technique! Nothing's working at all!"

All I get for my response is a raise from the old man's eyebrow and a blank stare. After I read his expression, I started to feel stupid. Stupid at screaming at a stranger. If I was trying to leave a good impression on the man, I was coming off as a complete and utter brat, who was whining about his problems instead of trying to fix them.

I don't apologize for my outburst, however. I might have been ashamed that I screamed at a stranger rudely, but I wasn't sorry about it.

We don't say anything for a minute, and I feel uncomfortable. My lips are starting to dry, and I want to give up on the **Bunshin no Jutsu** today and just eat dinner. However, my eyes don't leave the old man.

And he doesn't stop looking at me.

The older guy stared back, his face just as stoic as before. "I don't know of your struggle. However, I knew people who had it even harder than you and they didn't give up. Don't you want to become a shinobi? Do you want to give up your dream of becoming a shinobi?"

My eyes, brimming with tears, stung badly. This man didn't truly know how badly I wanted to become a ninja. I was almost desperate to become a genin. "I want to be a ninja... But I can't even do the simplest of Ninjutsu! I can't pass the Academy if I can't do those techniques!"

"If you gain the strength to do so, no obstacle means anything to you." The man said cryptically.

I raised my eyebrow, sniffling a little. "How? How can get the strength to pass?" It had been hard for me to even stomach, everybody hating my guts in the Academy, and to smile back at it, hoping one day for it to stop. I looked up with desperate eyes at the old man. "Is there some type of way, some type of shortcut?"

The old man shook his head, "There are no shortcuts in the life of shinobi. There is no ease for the job you want to do. Life is unfair, often difficult and brutal. The fact that you grew up as an orphan, hated, shows that. You know all about loneliness." I averted my eyes from the old man's disapproving gaze. It was like the question almost insulted him. "Forget about all those mean stares, all those hardships in the Academy, and all those children who treat you with nothing but hatred. Instead, use your desire to become a ninja as your strength. Turn it into your ambition. Become what you want to be."

The old man then cracked a small smile. "And I can help you get there."

My eyes widened. I couldn't keep the surprise off my face. "C-Can you?"

The old man's nod was all I needed to agree eagerly. I wanted to become a shinobi badly at all costs. Twenty seconds later, I asked the man what his name was, and the old man's response had been the following, "Danzō Shimura."

* * *

I had finished the taijutsu kata the old man gave me with a huff of exertion. I looked over, waiting for his approval before he nodded, and allowed me to sit on the bench next to him in his dōjō. I grinned, mopping my brow of glistening sweat and drank from a canteen my sensei had at his side. I drank from it greedily, the water soothing my dry throat. I sighed contently. Things were going very smoothly.

It had been a solid five months since I met my new sensei, and I had been training like I never trained before. Right now, I was working on my close quarters combat skills.

The Academy style of taijutsu that had been instilled in me for a year before, evolved into the quick and deadly style of CQC Danzō-sensei had urged me to learn. It was a style Danzō-sensei had used throughout in his youth. It was a style that traded brute force and outright martial strength for quick, deadly and precise strikes, parries and evasion maneuvers. I traded in my wild haymakers, elbow strikes, and uppercuts I had developed five months ago for open palm strikes, stabs, and chops aiming to pinpoint sensitive areas on the body and strike. The point of this style was to strike fast, and to attack with deadly precision. Later on, strength could be added in to make it more powerful and devastating but Sensei said not everyone who used his fighting style concentrated on strong strikes. It would be up to me if I wanted to add strength in there.

The rules of the style was speed, mobility and precision. You attacked when you seen an opening, and only then. The opening could be first, or it could be second. If you could not move, it wouldn't work for you. If you could not aim, it wouldn't work for you. We spent a week perfecting my aim with kunai and doing laps around the village just for such that. After he was content with what I shown, he showed me the basis of the style and I worked from there. Since the style didn't draw directly upon strength and strengthening your muscles, every hit that you landed on the open counted. If you hit him or her, you were good. If the attack missed, you prepared yourself to parry the opponent's strike and try again to hit them. If _that_ missed, you got the hell out of there before you faced a blow that could knock you the hell out. It took a few minutes of him explaining it, but I got what Danzō-sensei was trying to explain to me how his taijutsu style was designed like.

We started with this new style of fighting a few weeks after I met Sensei at the Academy. At first, since I was always used to fighting with my fists in my spars in the Academy, it was a little difficult adjusting and not striking out with a closed hand instead of an open-styled one, but I started picking it up after I got the muscle memory down. Shadowboxing two hundred palm strikes before we started training helped out faster. I felt myself become faster, my muscles tighter and my strength in my blows increase. It wasn't an incredible jump in strength, especially when I couldn't catch the old coot that was my sensei, not even once, but I felt better than I was in the Academy. I didn't look sloppy anymore. It was mostly because we were focused on improving my taijutsu.

Of course, that, and working on my chakra control, was the only thing we were doing. I pestered Sensei a few times about teaching me some ninjutsu – actually, I _begged _him to teach me something that "can help shoot fire out my ass" (as said in my actually words) – but he refused every time, saying that "in order for a tree to stand, it must start at its foundation". Which meant, I needed to learn the basics before I started on more advanced techniques, and elemental ninjutsu was advanced. Despite the goofy tree metaphor that I almost immediately rolled my eyes at when he told me that, I wisely nodded and continued getting better in areas I needed help with. I spent countless hours working on how perfecting my style of fighting, and mastering all three of the Academy's important techniques. Most of the time, from sun up, to sun down, and with little breaks in between. The one or two days I had off, I spent them resting up and preparing for training once again.

It was odd, but I felt at peace with this tough regime. The Academy had been the worse experience in my life, and boring to me these days but being here with Sensei in his manor training until I collapsed was better to me. I felt like I wasn't aimlessly trying something I couldn't complete; when I needed help, it wasn't something treated lightly. I got help, I got pointers, I got tips. I got instructions, I got the things I need. Hell, without Danzō-sensei, I wouldn't even know how to fix my chakra control, the main problem why my execution of the **Bunshin no Jutsu** always went south.

That's not to say it wasn't difficult. Sure it was hard, but Sensei had told me he was going to push me in order to break my limits. He hadn't been lying at all. He gave me fair warning. Everyday, I felt I learned something new. Every time my body felt like it was going to collapse, I learned something new about my abilities, and I came back for more. Sensei helped me with everything I needed help with, and the things I didn't need help with, he let me breathe. He let me continue to work on them on my own. I was my own person. Nothing like I was when I was in school.

Those old and boring lessons in the Academy couldn't suffice what I learned from Danzō-sensei! I actually learned here, and I wasn't feeling pressured at all. Maybe it wasn't because Sensei didn't throw so many books and tests at me like in the Academy. He did give me books about the anatomy of the human body, lessons on geography in the world and scrolls showing diagrams of his taijutsu but that was it. Other than that, I practiced either on my own at home or with my teacher. It wasn't long hours of a teacher droning on something boring like the economy of Konohagakure or the history of Hi no Kuni's many Fire Daimyō.

Or maybe because Sensei didn't glare openly at me every waking hour in my school.

But it wasn't like I didn't have to go to school. I still had to. At first for my remedial classes, but I improved so fast, that wasn't an issue, and I was back into a general class again when they saw my progression. Back with kids I saw from Second Year, who now moved up to Third Year. Some, recognizing me, teased me for being left back in school, while other just ignored me. I, in turned, ignored them. I felt like I was beyond the Academy already. I mastered everything here, I re-learned the things I didn't master, and mastered them too. I was just on line, waiting to graduate now. Five months down, seven more to go.

Other than going topside for school and stuff in the day, I didn't spend much time outside, besides training and going to Danzō-sensei's house to train some more. I admitted I started to become more of a private person when I started training. Or rather, I had no time to truly do anything outside training.

Not that I cared too much. There wasn't really anything out there for me in the village, and the Academy had no one I cared about. I was there only to graduate, and then leave. I visited my apartment a few times in the month, but I didn't really stay there at all. If I need anything there, I would swing by there, and then come to Danzō-sensei's place again. All I did was train with Sensei all day until he let me relax for the rest of the evening.

It was now the middle of October and I was now ten years old, about two weeks after my birthday. My birthday had passed like a blur, and other than train all day that day, I did nothing special for it. I didn't even see Ayame-neechan or Teuchi-jiji that day...

_'Come to think about it, I barely visit anyone anymore. No Ayame-neechan, no Teuchi-jiji, not even Sarutobi-jiji.' _I thought slightly with a frown.

I knew why though. I regret almost nothing, except not visiting the three people I cared about the most in this village. I had too much work to accomplish. Though, when this was all over, I would visit more, I promised to myself.

I trained religiously with Sensei in his dōjō, watching out for his one-armed strikes that came to me faster than bullets. The old coot had been one of the fastest shinobi I have ever seen in my life, and dodging his blows were extremely hard. Sure, since I was short, it helped me evade the blows I seen coming. However, if I didn't see it coming, I couldn't dodge it. Not even at the last second. Danzō-sensei was aiming to break me in half to get me to learn from my mistakes, to learn how to get better. His motto was "to improve in one's skill, one must fight someone who can totally and utterly outclass them."

Despite the beatings, despite the pain, the one-sided fights, and the brutal taijutsu exercises I was given, I was still learning. I was slowly getting better, and I was holding my own. Before, I hadn't even last lasted an iota with Danzō-sensei. The first time we even sparred, I tried throwing an attack his way, he knocked me unconscious with three well-placed blows. After waking me up, he looked over me with disappointed eyes and called my taijutsu "disgraceful". That woke something up inside me, to improve at all costs. In the real world, if an enemy shinobi could do that to me, I would be dead. Sensei was just trying to tell me that.

Now, I could dodge his blows, weave under them, and gain an attack on him. This was all my sensei's doing. He was focusing on me, and me only, and I couldn't help but to be happy about it. I need someone to show me where I was making mistakes at. Not for someone to ignore me and tell me to work on something else. Nobody in that damn Academy even told me that maybe I was sucking in the **Bunshin no Jutsu **because my chakra was too wild and large to control, and I needed to learn more advanced techniques to control it. Sensei was there, he told me what was wrong with me, and encouraged me to train everyday. To improve. That only added to my determination.

It may have been hard so far, but I enjoyed training everyday. A few hours after getting out of class, and the whole day, from 6 AM to 6 PM, on weekends. The only days I had off to brush up on my studies - maybe on a weekday or a Sunday - or to help heal muscle fibers I might have torn in my body during our training sessions. Of course, all it took is a good night's rest and I was up, feeling chipper and read to train, to which Sensei obliged to. I didn't know why I always had a lot of energy to keep going, even in situations where I should have felt tired, but I, at first, brushed it off at being simply sheer determination.

Day in and day out, we would training. I trained so hard, that I found myself sleeping on days here in Danzō-sensei's manor. He had given me permission to rest here all I like, so much that I found myself just staying here, instead of going back to that lonely apartment Sarutobi-jiji had given me a year ago. It was better than living next door to someone who hated your guts or nearby people who couldn't help but to glare at you like you were shit on their shoes.

I noticed the signs of people's hatred very early in life. Hatred for me. I was different somehow, maybe by the color of my hair, or the sapphire blue eyes I wield. Perhaps because my skinned was a peachy-color that most people did not have, or maybe because of the whisker marks on my face. I didn't know why until a few weeks ago.

And yes, I did my fair share of cries earlier when I found out why my fellow citizens hated me.

Now, I'm sitting here on the bench with Sensei swinging my legs around energetically, thinking about how stupid people were to think such a thing. Sure, I understood why they hated me – hell, I would have if the thing inside me had killed off one of my family members - but that didn't excuse them from anything. They believed I was the Kyūbi, and if my sensei not to use a scroll and a corny metaphor, I would have thought the monster myself. I was initially distraught about hearing about my status as a jinchūriki – a demon carrier, a demon's jailer, the power of a human sacrifice. My sensei had explained beforehand what a "jinchūriki" was and what happened seven years ago, the day of my birth.

It had been a few days – almost five days since Sensei told me what was the truth behind everything that was happening in my life. The truth behind why everyone hated me. I delved back into my memories.

_The Kyūbi had attacked Konoha with the intention to destroy and kill everyone. Me and several other children were raised to believe the Yondaime Hokage had defeated and destroyed the tailed beast in combat. I heard of the story before a few times in my days in the Academy, and the Yondaime was originally my hero. Then my sensei told me that everything I learned from that story was wrong. The tailed beasts were massive constructs of chakra, capable of massive destruction, and could not be killed, only sealed away to a person, or into a "sacrifice". I was that sacrifice. I was that child the Yondaime had chosen. but my old sensei had completely stopped that the moment he heard my small but noticeable cries. _

_"It seems I need to show you that you are wrong in thinking you are the nine-tailed fox, young Naruto." The man said smoothly, with not an ounce of annoyance in his tone. "Just so don't have any self-doubt."_

_Out of thin air, and from a gray smoke cloud, he produced a scroll within his left hand. "This is a storage scroll. They are the lowest form of fūinjutsu, and are very useful to store weapons of many sizes, going from the size of a senbon, to a size of a large broadsword." I seen him put a hand up and waved it over the storage seal, hearing a small pop and seen the man grasp a black kunai in his right hand. "What I done is released the seal inside this scroll containing the kunai. The scroll however is still here. It did not turn into the kunai and they are two separate entities. The kunai is simply the weapon inside of the scroll. Do you understand, Naruto?"_

_I sent him a small nod, my face a little red in embarrassment. I was eight, but I understood. The scroll was me, and the kunai was the bijū_ _in me. We weren't the same being. I simply contained him. "I understand, Danzō-sensei." I don't see a nod from him. The man is just staring at me with his only eye._

_"You need to understand the second_ _meaning behind this metaphor as well, Naruto." He resealed the kunai into the scroll, leaving the wrapped paper in his left hand still. "The scroll contains the hidden weapon inside: the kunai. There is where the true danger comes from. The kunai is the weapon that kills the enemy. It is the power behind the scroll. The scroll itself is powerful, but the kunai's power is stronger."_

_I took a few seconds to think about his riddle, but I figured out what he was implying. "I'm the scroll and the Kyūbi is the kunai... The kunai is a weapon. A weapon I can use..." I put a finger on my chin, thinking it over for a few more seconds, before saying, "You're telling me that I can the Kyūbi as a weapon?" My question was more on the lines of a statement. Of course that's what Danzō-sensei meant._

_"As a jinchūriki should use their beast like any other tool at their disposal. Its power is entwined with yours. Down to your chakra signature, and your chakra network. You cannot ignore it, you cannot go without it. As it cannot go without you. You are the body, and it is simply the guest. Or rather, you are the landlord and it is the tenant. All your life you will have the Kyūbi inside you. Ignoring it would be asinine. Use it. It is _power_."_

_"But its power you can lose control of." What good was power without control? Something I had learned far back from Sensei's lectures. Power was nothing without restrain and knowing your limits. I was the true definition of a lot of power but not a lot of control. It got me nowhere fast, and I failed my graduation exam because of my lack of control for the __**Bunshin no Jutsu**__. This was why after these taijutsu exercises, Danzō-sensei made me climb trees in his backyard right after in the hopes to increase my chakra control level quickly._

_The old man conceded, nodding at Naruto's point with a knowing smile. "I agree, but that power can be controlled. As can any power. Your journey for controlling that power isn't a scramble in the dark. Many before you sought out the ability to control their bijū's power. You are not the first jinchūriki in this world, and certainly won't be the last."_

_That caught my interest. So, there were more like me out there? Of course, it made sense. Something like a jinchūriki - how the old man was making it anyway - was important. Why would only one nation like Hi no Kuni have something like that themselves without wars happening? There had to be balance somewhere. "How many bijū_ _and jinchūriki exist?" I was curious. I was new to this whole thing with monstrous chakra constructs and demon carriers._

_The man paused, seemingly thinking about it. "There are nine tailed beasts of this word. Ichibi, Nibi, Sanbi, Yonbi, Gobi, Rokubi, Nanabi, Haichibi and finally, the Kyūbi. To my knowledge, all of them are sealed within jinchūriki. Currently, there are nine jinchūriki that live today."_

_"Names?"_

_"Curious, hm?" Danzō-sensei_ _grunted, but did not seem to be bothered at all by my question. "Very well. We only have one jinchūriki of Konohagakure. You, of course. Similarly, our ally nation, Sunagakure also have one. Gaara of Sunagakure holds Ichibi no Shukaku. Kumogakure, unlike us, have two. Yugito Nii has the Nibi. I will get to the next one later on." There was a small pause in the man's words, as if he was thinking what else to say. "Yagura, the current Mizukage, has the Sanbi. Iwagakure has two jinchūriki. Yonbi belongs to Yōton no Rōshi, and Gobi is the bijū_ _of Jōki no Yoroi no Han. Then, Kirigakure has a hold of the next bijū, Rokubi, within a young man by the name of Utakata. Nanabi belongs to Fū_ _of Takigakure. Finally, the Haichibi is the second bijū_ _belonging to Kumogakure and is sealed in a young fellow by the name of Killer B, adoptive brother to A, the Raikage."_

_I listened keenly, finding it all interesting. There were people like me out there! A desire of wanting to meet another one of the jinchūriki_ _started_ _to bud inside me. However, I frowned slightly, thinking back at something else that was bugging me about sensei's listing of the demon containers._

_"Sorry if I'm not getting it old man," I barely dodged a very lazy thrown swipe from the man's wooden cane. I didn't want to be hit by that thing at all. I once had the gall to call Danzō-sensei "jiji" this week during my training sessions - you know, to test the waters - and it almost caused me to receive a brain concussion. The man was old, but his aura and strength was definitely like Sarutobi-jiji. That's where the similarities stop apparently, because the man did not like to be called an old man by me. "But isn't that grossly unfair? Why do Kumogakure and Iwagakure have two bijū_ _instead of one like the rest of the nations out there?"_

_The old Shimura closed his eye, doing a brief and quiet hum. At this time as he is thinking, I take the time out to ponder about things. I have yet to understand the reason why the old man was half-blind and his right arm was gone. Injuries from being in the First, Second or Third Shinobi World War maybe? Lost them in a brutal battle against another shinobi? He would probably tell me what happened to it later on. I wasn't going to pry as of yet. _

_His voice brings me out of my thoughts, "I guess I can start by saying that Hashirama Senju, the first Hokage, had given out bijū_ _to the other nations as a token of good will, in the hopes to keep peace between them all. Without him, no one in the world would have known the bijū can be contained and sealed. Unfortunately, that was one of the factors that lead up to the First Shinobi World War and the second one, as well. Do you know who were involved in the Second Shinobi World War, boy?"_

_I shook my head, and the man continued, not showing any displeasure or annoyance in my ignorance. "Konoha, Iwa and Amegakure were involved. Kumo was not directly involved in the Second Shinobi World War, still recuperating its loses in the First Shinobi World War and Kirigakure was too busy dealing with a small civil war. The second great war was a brutal affair, a slugfest between leaf, stone, sand and rain itself. The war made names like the Sannin, Chiyo, Sakumo Hatake, Yōton no Rōshi, and Sanshōshou no Hanzō synonymous with the word 'fear'."_

_Sensei tapped his cane against his wooden dōjō floor thoughtfully. It gave off the impression that he was getting lost in his memories. "There was a time where I believe this war would bring the end of three of the strongest Great Villages because of such talented shinobi from all sides. A minor village like Amegakure was just as powerful as Konoha, Suna and Iwa, having such powerful shinobi on their sides. If it wasn't for the treaty we all settle for, we would not be speaking here today, I'm sure. Each side were getting beaten down, yet did not let up. In the end, however, the bijū_ _were used to stop all the fighting. A few months during the height of the war, Kusagakure had been attacked by the Gobi, a state that lives in between Iwa, Ame and us." _

_I cringed. That must have caused a lot of fighting over it. Sensei continued his story, "We managed to help Kusa capture it before any of the nations, and in the end used it to keep the peace between us all. We met together in a meeting in Kusa and it was agreed that there would be peace if we gave Iwa the Gobi. Iwagakure as an agreement to stop the war, allowing them to have two jinchūriki. In order to stop the fighting, it was deemed necessary by Hokage-sama to pass out the tailed beasts to keep the peace. Much like the Shodai Hokage._

_"Years later, Kumo had gained another jinchūriki on their own in secret. They already had their bijū, the Haichibi to themselves back in the Shodai Hokage's reign. The other one, the Nibi, came to attack Kumo two decades ago and was placed in Yugito Nii when she was four. That alone almost caused the Third Shinobi World War."_

_I started to understand what Sensei was saying. All this for creatures made of chakra. Massive chakra, mind you, but chakra nonetheless. They had massive power - both political and literal power. I understood, and nodded. "I see."_

_The man had a ghost of a smile on his lips as he gave me an amused, and maybe an impressed look from his eye. "You picked the irregular number of jinchūriki each village had from when I listed the jinchūriki alone?" I nodded slowly. The man would spare only one compliment, "Sharp."_

_I beamed, liking the admiration, even it if it was a little. "Thanks for telling me why we had one and Iwa and Kumo had two."_

_The man nodded. "You asked. I answered. Anything else you would like to ask?"_

_I had another question, like how and why would a non-Great Village like Taki have a bijū_ _as well but I just waved it off. Absorbing the information I heard, I nodded again for the third time this evening. "So, they are all my age?"_

_"No. Many of them are ninjas that have earned reputation in the world, even before your birth. The seniors of the group of jinchūriki, Han and Roshi, are well over the age 35 respectively. Killer B is at least in his thirties, and Yugito Nii, the fourth oldest of the jinchūriki is her mid-twenties. I think there is only two that are close to your age now."_

_I whistled, "Damn. They must be strong."_

_"Strong, and had years to learn how to control their tailed beast." The man tapped his cane against the ground. "I hope to get you there soon. There will come a time you will have no choice but to rely on that power."_

_I was still wary of it all. I didn't even want the creature inside me. Learning how to control such a terrible power in order to protect my nation. It was a scary thought. I settled on a nod. "Yes sensei. I'll be ready whenever possible."_

_"Yes, in due time. I am an expert in advanced fūinjutsu, and I have ways to help you train with the chakra of the bijū_ _inside you." I could only nod dumbly, hoping the man would move away from this conversation soon._

"Naruto." I heard the old man call, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Yes, jiji?" I brought the canteen from my lips and sat it down on the bench to rest near my hip. The man did not seem to take the joke well, throwing me a slightly annoyed glance. "I'm joking, sensei. Whatsup?" I waited patiently for the man next to me.

The old man sent me a warning glare before saying, "I decided that today, I will try something different in your training session. Instead of training with me directly, I will set you up with a sparring partner." With a snap of his fingers, down came from the shadows of Danzō-sensei's dōjō, a figure that was the same size as me.

Immediately after landing, they stayed planted on one knee and bowed. In a soft voice, the ninja uttered, "Danzō-sama."

"Rise," my sensei commanded and the figure rose and stood tall.

I looked at the girl as she rose with interest. They wore a black jacket, with red straps on the jacket's shoulders, and a white kimono under it. Having a mask very similar to ANBU, the ninja had a white porcelain mask with red and blue stripes painted diagonally on the mask. The mask itself had been in the shape of a bird. Animal masks were very popular in Konoha's ANBU. The person had the professionalism of a high-level shinobi. Even the way they stood was very masculine and strong. If they didn't take off their bird-looking mask with red and black stripes on the mask, I would have thought the ninja was surely a boy.

Instead, it was a girl with a black ponytail and a hitai-ate on her forehead that had the allegiance of Konohagakure on it. This girl was no doubt looked like a genin, maybe even chūnin, but at the same time looked like she was around my age. She was pretty however. Her skin color was lighter than mine. I might even say it was pale. She had cool green eyes and a face that still had lingering baby fat on her face. She was definitely around my age, and I looked at sensei with a little confusion because of it. "I thought you trained people that were older than me."

I detected a small hint of annoyance in Danzō-sensei's next comment as he said, "And I have trained people younger _than_ you and the same age _as _you, boy. This is Amaya, an one-year veteran in my organization, Naruto. An organization I hope to one day include you in. She is the same age as you."

_'Organization?' _I mused to myself, keeping that mind. The girl in front of me looked like ANBU from what I seen. Did Sensei want me to include me in the ANBU one day? Somehow, that didn't quite bother me as I thought it would. Shinobi often had many stints they did in their lives, including the Hokage himself. I wanted to become the best damn shinobi in this one day to gain acknowledgment and to protect Konoha. ANBU were groups of ninjas who were not only the best at what they did, but protected the village for all kinds of things. They were heroes in the shadows, much like sensei told me about them. They contributed a lot to the society of Konohagakure, and only a selective few knew of who there were, so they weren't hated, only respected.

I nodded nevertheless, looking at the girl for a second and studying her again.

Her face was flat, expressionless, and she was silent. I couldn't hear her breath or a single hum. It was almost like she was lifeless. A cold, pale ghost. I shivered and immediately became annoyed with my thoughts. The girl didn't even say two words to me and I already was acting like she was a nuisance. Much like how the villagers acted with me. How hypocritical of me.

So, I decided to jump to my feet and look at the girl in the face with my blue eyes. After a few more seconds, I grinned, and rose my hand, "Sup, Amaya-chan?" I said informally, trying to be as friendly as I could. Maybe the girl was just nervous and shy and needed someone to be friendly to her. Maybe that's why she wasn't saying anything.

The girl looked at my hand, and then strangely looked in Danzō-sensei's direction, as if she need his approval to shake my hand. It took a few seconds before I felt her gloved black hand to shake my sweaty, naked one. I looked confused again. _'Why the heck would she need Danzō-sensei's approval to shake my hand?'_

"The rules of this spar is taijutsu only. No kenjutsu, Amaya." The man must have meant the tantō on Amaya-chan's back. "You both also do not to hold back. Fight until you cannot anymore or until I stop it."I barely heard Danzō-sensei's soft voice to get ready for combat, telling that to both of us. Excitement has already crept inside me. I nodded eagerly, and I almost missed a nod out from Amaya-chan. I can't help but to have a small grin on my face.

Yes! Finally, combat where I couldn't hold back at all and combat I could finally see where I have improved in. At the start of this month, Danzō-sensei started telling me I needed to not show-off my taijutsu skills in school, to which I at first didn't quite get until he explained that a good shinobi never showed his best cards in something as small as a spar. When I sparred with sensei, I hadn't been holding back, but I could never even catch him.

This was a chance now to cut loose, and kick some ass! Even if it was a girl.

I immediately slipped into the fighting style I have been learning for four months now, the **Senkō** **Shō** – the name of the fighting style. I raised my left arm near my face, while my right arm was lowered, slightly covering my midsection. I had my feet poised and my knees slightly bent. I faced my opponent, a grin still on my face. Even if I couldn't win against this person, it would be fun.

I heard my sensei strongly command to begin, and I charged to my opponent's position. The girl stood still, with the familiar blank look on her face. Then she slipped in a stance similar to mine. She was also a practitioner of Danzō-sensei's style I seen. She was also one of his students. That would make things more interesting.

I went to strike at her chest, but she parried the strike away and tried to hit me with a quick stab to my solar plexus. The girl was quick, perhaps faster than me by a little. Fighting her in close range with a fighting style she had one year's of practice to get down would be stupid and I charged towards her dumbly without realizing it. I got hit hard, grunting in pain at the attack but I managed to intercept her next strike going towards my sternum. I launched another attack, this time to her shoulder with a strike to bring her down, but she evaded it and I stumbled. Before I could adjust, she sent a heel kick to my back and I tumbled to the ground landing on my stomach uncomfortably.

I groaned, mumbling, "That hurt", and tried climbing to my feet. However, the girl wouldn't let me completely stand up as I heard a loud shuffling of feet ring out in the dōjō. Amaya-chan was running towards me – it was a no brainer. This time, I had the girl charge into my position with speed higher than mine. I didn't waste time turning my head towards her, and I rolled out of the way barely in enough time. Since she was recovering from her charge, I jumped back to my feet and stood waiting, thinking what next to do.

Amaya would recover and she would be back in my face again. She had more experience using Sensei's fighting style than I did and she was much faster. Fighting her head on would be stupid if I couldn't get it a hit on her. So, I stood still, waiting for her near a gray pillar. A few pillars were in the room and I kept my back against it. _'Wait, I have a plan...'_

Having an idea, I stood still, stood away from brown support beam and put my hand out, flexing my fingers in her direction, taunting her to come here. Amaya didn't look very affected by it, but nevertheless accelerated towards me quickly. She seen my speed, she thought she could hit me before I had time to counter her. She would be right had I stayed there solely to parry her and counter attack. I instead watched out for her stab to my windpipe and let her hit the large stone pillar. The speed she ran at was way too fast to just stop until she hit her opponent. I was sure it broke her hand as her fingers bent back unnaturally and I heard a crack. Even the look on her face shown much discomfort and large amounts of pain.

I didn't let her recover from it, and sent a palm strike to her throat this time, finally laying a blow on her in this battle. She choked in pain, and it had been the most emotion I have seen her with on her face in this battle. She barely dodged my palm strike to her head, leading me to slam my palm painfully to the pillar. However, the girl could not parry my knee strike to her gut fast enough. I removed my hand from the pillar, as it throbbed in pain, and grabbed her with my two hands before throwing her to the ground. Then, I jumped on her, sat on her chest so she could not wiggle out of my hold so easily, and laid a plethora of open-handed palm strikes to her face with my uninjured right hand.

I targeted her mouth, and her nose, and her cheeks, assaulting everything I could. Then I started slamming her head against the ground with my hands viciously.

I kept hitting, and hitting until Sensei yelled, "Enough!" I stopped, hearing it and lick my lips nervously. My adrenaline was gone, and the fight was finished. I looked at my handiwork.

Poor Amaya laid there, slumped and unconscious because of what I have done. I flinched at Sensei's sharp voice to get off Amaya and I flew off her hastily. Sensei walked over, not looking at me and snapped his fingers. Another shinobi plops down from the shadows, wearing a different shaped mask than Amaya – a dog-shaped mask with two black dots on top – and a different outfit with a hooded black cloak came down and bowed to Danzō-sensei before going towards Amaya and diagnosing her injuries.

Meanwhile, Sensei pulls me over so the dog-masked ANBU could work on Amaya. I see a green glowing amount of energy summon itself into the man's hand. I curiously asked, "Is that Medical Ninjutsu, Danzo-sensei?"

"Aye. Amaya has broken her hand on the pillar she slammed her fingers onto." I winced, remembering the sound of her bones cracking against the stone pillar.

"Is she going to be okay?" I felt bad hurting her like that. This was suppose to be a friendly spar, not end in someone getting hurt.

"Yes, child." Sensei assured, assuaging my worries a little. "Shinji is an exceptional medical-nin. Amaya will feel fine after a week of rest."

I nodded. Sensei knew what he was talking about. I trusted his judgment. After a few minutes, Shinji nods at my teacher and Danzō simply waved towards him, as if asking him to leave us. Shinji obeys, and disappears in a fury of leaves with Amaya-chan's unconscious form.

We stand there for a few seconds. I choose to be quite, not knowing if my teacher was pissed at me. If he was, I didn't want to anger him any further.

Instead, however, he nods at me and puts his hand on my shoulder. "Good. It seems like your progress with the **Senkō** **Shō** is showing. As is your ability to think ahead in the heat of battle. Amaya is a well-known practitioner of the **Senkō** **Shō **in my ANBU. She didn't expect you to use your environment like that to defeat her."

"Your ANBU? I thought Sarutobi-jiji had power over the ANBU." I said confused.

"He is. But I control a sub-division of the ANBU," My teacher smoothly answered, without a skip in his voice. "It's a sub-division I would like to include you in."

It wasn't an offer, or it didn't sound like it. It sounded more like I _would _be included in this group. It didn't matter. I had an ambition to become a great shinobi. Even if I was forced into it, I still wanted to become strong and acknowledged. I nodded. "Yes sir. When do I become apart of the group?"

"I will start your induction process as soon as possible. We have plenty of time before you graduate from your Academy. Then after you graduate, I will fully be able to use you. I will take you under my wing and fully induct you into my organization then. Right now, consider these next few months as an 'introduction' to my group."

I hummed, liking the sound of that. I could learn much more under Danzō-sensei and after that, be ready for anything. I was ready to graduate now, to be honest. I finally got down the **Kawarimi no Jutsu**, my **Henge **was tight, and my **Bunshin no Jutsu **was starting to look more feasible every time I practiced it. A few more chakra control exercises, and sensei assured me that he would start working with me to learn newer techniques. However, that was only if I joined this group of his. If I refused, my training would end here, and I would be without anyone again...

I asked what was the name of the organization he was the leader of. He smiled and told me its name.

_**End.**_

* * *

**A/N: **Thus ends the first chapter of this story. This is an alternative universe, and while taking some things from the canon storyline, it will diverge from it. This is a story that's been brewing in my head for a little while. I always liked the idea of Danzō getting his hands on Naruto. Not a lot of stories have him as Naruto's sensei. Both a curse, and a blessing. Usually, the stories that do have him as Naruto's master are well done. I was inspired by a lot of those, and Kenchi618 "The Sealed Kunai" – a very awesome story – is a good example of such. I recommend you read it if you want to read a good, old-fashioned "Naruto-kicks-major-ass-and-gets-major-ass" story. One of my favorite fanfics to read from him, and one of my favorite on this website.

To explain the little things, in this story the Academy functions a certain way – and I will be placing its style of teaching in other stories I write in the future. A person is taught in the Academy for three years. Sometimes, they are given more years if they need it. The first year, you go over basic math, writing, reading, science, geography, history of the world, etc. Things and knowledge average people should know, regardless of whether or not they are ninjas. Lots of writing, notes, and tests. Nothing too special. A no-brainer, and if a person does not want to continue with the ninja program, they would at least have the knowledge of a civilian.

Year two, the Academy starts the students learning basics things a ninja should know. What is a kunai? What is a shuriken? How to wield and throw them? What are hand seals? What is a technique? What classes, rank, and groups of techniques are out there? What is ninjutsu, genjutsu and taijutsu? What is chakra? How to channel chakra and why is it important to a ninja? What is chakra control and how can we improve chakra control? Questions like that. While not teaching ninjutsu, and certainly not genjutsu, they go over how to physical channel chakra, throw kunai/shuriken, and start sparring between students.

(Speaking on the subject, I need to say something that I see in fanfiction often and it has become a pet peeve of mine. I understand why they don't teach students genjutsu. In the Academy, they do not teach genjutsu – not even the lowest form of it – to their students because that would be seen as irresponsible. The art is complex, and most ninjas lack the skill to use them, so why would little kids learn a single one? Not to mention, genjutsu is a dangerous art when performed wrong, or when lacking the skill to perform them correctly. What if a student cast them on their fellow students? What if one of them are irresponsible with it and uses the technique maliciously? Think of the collateral damage that could happen if a student, who learned that from their homeroom teacher, cast the technique on another student. Maybe not on an extreme level but not _every _student in the Academy are responsible and good shinobi. These teachers would lose their jobs fast! That's not how the Hokage meant the Academy to be when he created it.

Unless learning from an outside source, no student under normal conditions, should know any form of genjutsu. This includes the Transformation Technique, one I seen in _many_ stories labeled as genjutsu, when it isn't. Genjutsu does not work like that. They target the opponent's chakra flow in their brain, and manipulates it. The Transformation Technique does none of that. If you can accept Kiba's Beast Human Clone technique – a technique where Akamaru, Kiba's nindog transforms into his master – as a ninjutsu, then accept that the Transformation Technique is also a ninjutsu, people! The point of the Academy is to help guide the youth and show them the basics of being a ninja, so they themselves can build upon the basics. They show them how to fight, how to kill, but not how to endanger themselves or others. They don't use exploding tags, seals, and other things that are complex, because kids shouldn't be running around using them, no matter how responsible you can argue they can be. Kids from clans learn techniques from their own families, not from a place that can be seen as negligible. Taijutsu spars, while they are fighting, are supervised by experienced chūnin. Projectile throwing – supervised by chūnin. Hell, the ninjutsu they learn are supplementary. None of the three main jutsu of the Academy can physically kill someone. Showing them genjutsu is stupid. And I needed to get that off my chest.

Okay. Rant over. Back to my version of the Academy.)

Year three would be the final year, the year where the students finally start physically applying their knowledge from last year to techniques, such as the Body Replacement, Transformation, and Clone Techniques. Then, they spend time perfecting their chakra control and mastering the techniques, before finally graduating on time. In this story, the date will be somewhere in May. Should you fail this year, the person would spend a year of doing remedial classes, going over the last year once again. If they fail again, they could either be held back again, or be completely dropped from the program – the latter being likely depending on the person's behavior. Naruto has failed his third year, at the age of 9, and was sent back.

I'm not one to believe they spent like 5 years in the Academy, nor am I to believe that they cram all that information in you for one year. Then, almost _everyone _would fail, and they would all be "dead-lasts", except the greatest of prodigies in the Academy.

In canon, this style of the Academy's teaching could be plausible. Explaining why Naruto seemed to failed numerous times in the Academy already compared to the rest of his friends, who seemed to have passed on their first try. It means Naruto was entered in the Academy much earlier than the rest of the Rookie Nine, and he went through remedial classes for an X amount of years, until he passed with the help of Iruka Umino and his signature Shadow Clone Technique. In this story, he is no different, and he's on the first year he failed the Academy's exam.

This story will be updated whenever I feel inspiration ping in me. It could be weeks, it could be months. It's the easiest when you have a topic like this one that is pretty fresh and new, and you have room to write things in. "Stop The Future"'s plot and its events can be a little hectic to write. With this, I have more freedom. Not to mention, I always like the Root-affiliated Naruto story, so as it's done in a believable fashion. I aim to do so.

Now this will be a more darker look at Naruto. A Naruto-centric, if you haven't noticed. This will be mostly done in Naruto's perspective through this whole story. I think the only times I'll actually have it in another person's perspective if it's in the omake of each chapter. If I write an omake for each chapter.

Naruto won't be as bubbly and happy-go-lucky as he is in canon – for obvious reasons – and at times, this story will be dark. Now, will it effect the rest of the canon story? Will he meet anyone else he canonically meets in the anime/manga? Do I want to place him on a team with Kakashi Hatake, Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha? I kinda don't, because it's been done so many times before. I will see.

The story is going to be grim. It will be dark, but it will not forget some small things. A tinge of humor, adventure, and some more stuff.

As for my other stories, I haven't forgotten about "Stop The Future". I'm doing a redo of it, one that is taking a lot of my time to write, and I'm working on a prologue to it. Meh. It was because I felt the need to start completely from the start with it too... I'm such a fool sometimes.

Anyway, hopefully, I'll update this very soon. Until then, I bid you farewell.

The OCs

Amaya – Acts much like normal Root members – emotionless, detached, and fiercely loyal to her master. She is an original character, and whether or not I decide to include her more in the story is up to how the story goes. She has already went through the "Three Trials" of Root.  
Shinji – A faceless soldier who was just there. Won't pop up too much, and is just a background character. Unlike the main character from _Evangelion_, in which he shares his name with him.

The Characters

Naruto Uzumaki – A different beginning for our hero. While sharing some personality quirks as the Canon!Naruto, this Naruto is very driven to become a shinobi at a very young age. Once after his first year of failure, Danzō scoops him up and begins training him under the Hokage's nose. In his younger age, he was not under the teaching of Iruka Umino, and does not have many, if not, anyone who praises and helps him develop, so he falls easily into Danzō's hands. The Sandaime is under the impression that Naruto will try next year to pass, and does not believe anything has changed with him since Naruto acts the same as he does with the Sandaime. Therefore, he has no reason to be suspicious so far. Naruto, meanwhile, is becoming loyal to Danzō because the man acknowledges his strength.

Danzō Shimura – Same old-ass bastard. Very straight-forward, disciplined, and although a good, albeit brutal, teacher, makes for a cold person overall.  
_**  
**_**Translation List:**

Bunshin no Jutsu – Clone Technique  
Henge no Jutsu – Transformation Technique  
Jōki no Yoroi no Han – Han of the Steam Armor  
Jūken – Gentle Fist  
Kawirimi no Jutsu – Body Replacement Technique  
Nawenuke no Jutsu – Rope Escape Technique  
Sanshōshou no Hanzō – Hanzō of the Salamander  
Yōton no Rōshi – Rōshi of the Lava Release

**Technique List:**

Flash Palm (Senkō Shō) – A fighting style developed by Danzō Shimura and taught to all of his Root affiliates. This style uses the user's speed and precision, rather than their strength like an "external" fighting style like the Strong Fist. The Flash Palm is instead an "internal" fighting style. Mostly developed after the Jūken, the Flash Palm has the user fight with quick strikes, such as open-handed palm strikes, stabs with their fingers, and chops. Since this style is concentrated around strikes with the user's hands, the Flash Palm trades in blows from a punch or kicks for speedy strikes. This means the style is not made to lay massive damage on an opponent. Though this can be remedied by channeling chakra into their strikes. Augmenting their blows with chakra can increase the lethality of this style, giving the user much more strength in their blows, though it is not needed. If the user actually develops real strength, their blows will become quite deadly.

Rank: None  
Chakra Usage: None (If the user does not augment their own attacks)  
Technique Class: Offensive  
Type/Classification: Taijutsu, Fighting Style  
Range: Short-range  
Hand Seals: N/A  
Users: Danzō Shimura, Naruto Uzumaki, Fū, Torune, Amaya, Shin, Sai


	2. Two

Two

Three months seemed to fly by as I practiced the kenjutsu kata with a small wooden dagger that Danzō-sensei had given me. It was much more smaller than a normal-sized bokken, customized for people who was going to learn the art of using a tantō. It was also without a tip, to ensure no one got injured by the wooden weapon. Also, it did emulate how a normal Root tantō would look like as well. I never even broke so much of a sweat as I stabbed the soft training dummy made of hay with my wooden short sword. _'Stab, stab, stab, stab.'_

The room was a dim room, with low florescent lights on the ceiling. It was large enough to practice my sword kata comfortably on training dummies, and fortified to use my ninjutsu here as well. The walls were made of sturdy blue stone, and was used to train several of Danzō-sensei's soldiers underground. Under the noses of Konohagakure. Hiding in shadows.

After completing such exercises, I sat down and drank from my canteen. I felt good. I was faster, stronger, and better than what I was eight months ago. I could perform all three of the necessary techniques to pass the Academy and I could now take the test any time I wanted to. I still had to wait a few months until I could in May but it gave me enough time to do whatever I wanted, to study up and brush up on anything I needed. May was four months away. I had plenty of time to learn whatever I wanted.

I've shown Danzō-sensei my mastery of the three Academy techniques two months back. I also mastered the Tree Climbing, and Water Walking Exercise, and now, I was working with my elemental affinity. Nature manipulation was a higher form of chakra control and Danzō-sensei told me I was ready to try learn it.

Wind. Awesome-as-fuck wind.

Sensei had told me it had worked for me that the wind was my affinity, because that was his affinity as well. Good, because I sure as hell need someone to help me with this wild element. It was very difficult at first, since I had to learn how to split things with my chakra. Wind was made to cut things, so I had to learn how to cut things.

First, a leaf. I had to learn how to make a single cut in the leaf with my chakra. Which was difficult in itself. Then I had to learn how to make a clean slice through it without any other cuts in it. That got my fingers cut up more times than I wanted in a lifetime. The training took about a week figuring it out. I worked on nothing else but the cutting of the leaf.

Then the intermediate stuff came, and I had to learn how to cut a boulder with my wind chakra. Much harder to deal with than a leaf. At first, I barely made a mark on the boulder I trained with in the training grounds I usually worked with Sensei in. I did that, while working with sensei with my taijutsu and other non-elemental techniques. After two weeks, I cut cleanly through it and I couldn't help but to beam at my handiwork. And to be relieved.

Now, I was trying to work on a new task. I was learning how to cut a waterfall in half. That was where I was at with my training, and where I was stuck at. My teacher assured me that after the waterfall, nothing else was required, but that still didn't make the new training exercise any more easier.

My last part of my wind chakra training started about a week ago. It was one of those days I got off from the Academy, Danzō-sensei had taken me to the place on the outskirts of Konohagakure. It was a little's way out, taking about an hour to get there, but we did, and I was treated with being nearby a small river and a massive waterfall...

So when Danzō-sensei told me I had to cut that waterfall in half, I said the most appropriate thing that could come to mind.

"_Are you fucking joking?"_

_Sensei had no hint of a smile on his face. "I am not joking. I want you to split the waterfall in front of you. This all plays a part of your training."_

_"No way... No fucking way-" My swearing was cut short at the old man hitting me with his wooden cane. "Ouch! Sensei, what was that for?"_

_"How many times have I told you to not curse in my presence, boy? How rude." The old man uttered, before placing his cane near his feet again. "This isn't a joke. This is the final part of your wind chakra training. I had you cut leaves, and split rocks in half. I had you work on small, accurate targets. Then, large and durable targets that wind chakra could not cut through so easily. Now, the hardest part of them all. In order to completely master your wind chakra, you must learn how to split that waterfall. Water, that's always moving, always going."_

_I rubbed my head tenderly, pouting at him childishly. Then, I stared at the rushing waterfall in front of me with raised eyebrows. "You did this when you were mastering your wind affinity?"_

_"Yes, I did. As did many others before me. Wind is a chaotic element, hard to control, because it is one of the strongest elements ever. You can end up hurting yourself more than your opponent if you don't know to control your chakra in the right way. All the training I put you through is not only to help you control your wind chakra, but for you one day to help you create your very own techniques one day."_

_I perked up hearing that. Making my own techniques one day, huh? I liked the sound of that. I grinned, and pumped my arm. "Alright! Let's get it done, Sensei! I'll have this done in no time."_

_Then Sensei shook his head slowly. "I'm afraid you won't be speeding through this part of the test quickly. Unlike a stagnant rock or a limp leaf, moving water is much more difficult for wind to cut. This part of the training will take months, even a year to completely get down."_

_At this point in time, Sensei had me start training to suppress my emotions, for purposes in a fight or in a battle. It was the standard of being in Root. Sensei wanted everyone of his ninjas to be competent soldiers in battle. That explained why some of the ninjas I seen in Root was "emotionless". Or appearing to be... They completely suppressed their emotions to a point where they respond to little things emotionally.. It's not a path I truly wanted to follow, but I wanted to definitely be much calmer in battle. I didn't want to always make an ass of myself in front of my opponent. Or to flail out of anger if the opponent did something I hated._

_As it was, however, I still had a habit of getting carried away. _

_This was one of those times. "A _year?! _But, how the heck am I going to be ready for the world then? Lord knows I suck as a jinchūriki but if I suck as a regular ninja too-"_

_Sensei stopped my bitching, with something of a humorless chuckle as he raised his hand to stop me talking. "It seems I not only need to speed up your physical training, but also your mental training, Naruto. What did I say about shouting so much?"_

_I bit my lip, ashamed of my outburst. "I apologize, Sensei."_

_"Hmph. I resent your comment about you being a terrible jinchūriki. We haven't completely started your training, boy. Those others were training with their beasts at much younger ages than you. With the way you work, I'm sure you'll have it down soon enough. Besides, you are much stronger than most genin these days. Even chūnin. You have come a very long way in eight months."_

_I grinned, feeling better at the man's praise. Sensei continued talking, "Now, I see you want to get your training done quickly and get to learning wind ninjutsu. So, I will assist." Doing a hand seal, Danzō-sensei channeled chakra into his hands, and at his sides, a perfect copy of himself was created. "This is the __**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**__, a B-rank ninjutsu capable of the user being able to create a few clones. The user splits their chakra evenly between the clones, being both a blessing and a curse. The blessing is the potential of the technique. It is useful for many things: espionage, information gathering, and training purposes."_

_"Training purposes?" I asked._

_"Yes. Because the clones share information with the user after they are dispelled, any information the clones gain, the user will also gain it. If you train with your clone for one hour, and you dispel the clone, you will gain two hours of training despite only training for one hour."_

_"You mean to tell me that... There is a technique out there that you can gain hours of experience by the number of clones you use?" I barely could contain my excitement. _

_"Yes, essentially. The more clones you use, the more hours you gain in experience."_

_I had another impromptu outburst."Holy shit! When I learn that technique, it will be extremely useful! Clones that can fight, learn as much as I can, and be used for other purposes. I bet I can use, like, one hundred clones in a day, so I can get hundreds of hours of training!"_

_Sensei immediately shut that idea down. "It is extremely dangerous doing so, child. Do you not remember The more clones you use, the more likely you are to use up all your chakra. Ergo, it can end up killing you if you use too many clones."_

_I raised my eyebrow, a small amount of indignation in me. "I'm not stupid enough to make that many clones, Sensei."_

_"Thus why I'm giving you the technique, boy. I trust you won't completely kill yourself over something that you technically should take a year to learn how to do."_

_"No, sir!" That wouldn't mean I wouldn't milk the crap out of this technique to get things to work in my favor._

_"So get to it then." Sensei raised his hand into the weird hand seal again. "Copy this hand seal and try it."_

_It took me an hour for me to get down how to use the __**Kage Bunshin**__, but I learn it. Much faster than the year and a half it took me to learn the __**Bunshin no Jutsu**__. Danzō-sensei nodded his head approvingly, "Very good. After a few hours, we will stop and we will go back to the village."_

_I almost pout again, but I decided to be a good boy and nodded at the old man. Sensei just showed me a very useful technique – one that I would cherish for the rest of my life – today and I wasn't about to act like a brat because I didn't finish splitting the waterfall today. It was Saturday, I would have tomorrow to try again. After that, I could spend every day here training to split the waterfall until I got it down._

_Like I thought, I didn't get it down in three hours and we spent the next hour getting back to the village in the evening. After Sensei and I said our goodbyes, we went our own ways for the night. He went either home or to tend to the others in Root and I went to check into Ichiraku's and get my usual order for dinner. Also in an effort to see Ayame-neechan and Teuchi-jiji._

I grinned, thinking about how my training experience was starting to multiply – literally – now that I had access to the amazing ability that was the **Kage Bunshin**. It was the technique of ultra multitasking. If I was occupied doing my tantō kata in one room, my other clone could go down to the library in the base, read all the books there, and I would almost be able to recite it from page to page. I could even send my clone to the Academy and have it go to school for me. Hopefully, it didn't have to also participate in a taijutsu spar either, or my whole cover would have been blown.

Of course, Sensei, being the wet blanket he can be, limited my clone usage a day. He said I could only use about six a day. That didn't leave a lot of room for anything, so I usually did the easy stuff myself, while leaving the hard stuff, like the splitting of the waterfall, to my clones. It sucked not being able to ditch a day from the Academy, but it would be okay.

Besides my training, I had a few other things I was trying. Something more sociable.

I tried making friends in the Foundation. It seemed like the right thing, seeing many of these people I would be working with one day, and I wanted to make a nice impression.

No one told me that making friends with people that severely kept their emotions in check was hard. Everyone felt like a brick wall to talk to, and I didn't want to admit, but I didn't know how to approach them besides a "Hello" or saying some silly joke. I'd say it, they looked at me like I was saying something crazy, with the way they raised their eyebrows. After trying with a few people, I just stopped trying. It was not successful at all. It was mostly because these people were almost twice as old as me, or just disinterested in talking with me.

I stuck with trying to make friends with people around my age; the first person I tried was Amaya-senpai. However, that was a difficult task itself. She had been the same as I first met her. Quiet – so quiet, it almost felt like she wasn't there. I felt like I was always talking to her, always starting up the conversation. She had never attempted it. Not to mention every time I started a conversation with her, it felt like she forced herself to respond.

I tried getting some more words out of her lately, but it didn't seem to work. She would politely nod when I said something that she agreed with, shake her head 'no' appropriately, and spoke when she felt I needed her to. It was almost like she didn't have an opinion on anything. The only thing she was almost adamant against was going outside the village to do anything. I tried dragging her to Ichiraku's a few times and she refused. It wasn't because she hated ramen – because if she did, I would have strangled her by now – but it was just her general objection to go topside for anything. If it was to make her journey to get some weaponry, sure. If it was on some errand Danzō-sensei sent her one, sure. It was something other than that, she wouldn't do it, unless she was ordered to. It was frustrating, and there were times when I just wanted to scream at her but it wouldn't help. She wasn't totally at fault anyway.

Whatever Sensei made her go through in order to induct her into Root made her into this introverted girl who so stoic she seemed like a stone. It was one of the rare times I questioned what Sensei was doing with these people in Root. If it had been good for anyone.

But it wasn't all that bad. Not everyone was drones in this place. In fact, my first day in Root, I met two people who seemed actually... Normal. Something weird to say since we were all weird in a way. Sai and Shin were two adopted brothers that I met a few months back. However, they were very different from each other.

First, Sai: a boy who just got induced into the Foundation, with the suggestion of his adopted brother, Shin. Sai was very shy of a person, but seemed amicable towards me. He talked to me more than Amaya ever did and he was much more open. However, he did object going anywhere outside the underground base, unless to train with Shin or to relax with Shin. He never went anywhere with me or Amaya. It kind of bugs me sometimes. However, he wasn't a brick wall to talk to like Amaya-senpai was. We weren't that close, but at least it didn't feel like Sai was forcing himself to talk to me or anything.

As for his brother Shin, I could honestly say he was the only person in the base that didn't give me the heebie jeebies sometimes. Shin wasn't a freaking rock to talk to or a wallflower like Amaya and Sai could be sometimes. Shin was a cool person as well as open. He was talkative, often loud like me, and loved training. Mostly, he was friendly, and someone I was starting to enjoy having around, whether or not we were in Root. Unlike Amaya and Sai, Shin didn't object too much with going outside. He was the closest thing to a friend I could call here.

We talked, we trained together, often relaxing in the base's training quarters, and shooting the breeze. Shin had been around just about the same time I came in, I realized, as he told me where he was from, and why he came to Root. Much like me, Shin joined because he felt like he had no choice, like this was the only way to get strong. He was an orphan, and had no one. No mommy or daddy to make him happy. Danzō-sensei found him. Brought him in for his talents with the sword, taijutsu, and shurikenjutsu. Training with Root for over two years while attending the Academy, and then finally graduated. A few months behind graduating, I wanted to emulate Shin. Even when life was beating him down, he didn't let him affect him, and he was committed to becoming a strong shinobi of Konohagakure.

I immediately felt connected to him and his back story. It was my story as well, something we shared in common. We both needed something or someone to push us, then we got it in the form of Root. As days went by, I found myself hanging out with Shin. Months passed by, and Shin became my best friend. I found myself hanging around Shin and his younger brother, Sai. Whenever Sai was assigned to some sort of training, me and Shin hung together as well. Going out topside, training outside in the village's many training grounds, or getting a bite to eat. That often was a fight in itself. Shin liked eating udon, while I loved ramen. Which lead to some arguments, though it was all playful. No one in Root was like Shin. He was my first true friend that wasn't very older than me.

I met a few others at the base of Root but it was harder building a friendship with them since they weren't even close to my age. There weren't a lot of kids, besides me, Amaya-senpai, Sai and his brother Shin running around in the Foundation. The kids that were, I didn't even bother trying to talk to them because they were already mindless drones. Politely calling me "Uzumaki-kun" or "Uzumaki-kōhai" like Amaya-senpai called me. Fake smiles everywhere, the same sort of smiles I threw at people. None of them felt... Alive. It was like the life was sucked out of you. Amaya-senpai said that me, Shin and Sai were new recruits, and we didn't completely finish our emotional conditioning yet. Apparently, emotional conditional was more that suppressing your emotions ruthlessly in battle. There was more to this. If at the end of the conditioning turned us into them, I almost didn't want to become a Root shinobi.

"Almost" being the word there. I couldn't help it. I was still desperate to become a strong shinobi. Even if I was to become a drone, I would become one, even if I didn't want to. At all cost. Any hurdle thrown at me, I would jump over it.

Besides people my own age, I had some moderate success meeting people older than me.

I met two other older people that I had been able to strike some sort of conversation with. It had been with Sensei's two personal bodyguards, Fū-san and Torune-san. As quiet as they may be, or detached, they were willing to tell me their story.

Fū had auburn hair, amber eyes and usually walked around with a flat expression on his face. He was a serious man, just as stoic and expressionless like all the other guys in Root. He was strong, I could tell, and could kick my ass if we ever spared. According to him when I asked him, Fū had been training with Danzō-sensei ever since he was five. Younger than I was when I met Danzō-sensei, definitely. Much like everyone in Root, he had been an orphan, and Sensei picked him up and brought him in Root. An interesting fact was that the auburn man was a member of the Yamanaka Clan. I could have swore I seen on or two of them in the Academy once, but that could have been my wild imagination. Yamanaka were cool in my books. All those funky mind-control abilities. The ability to control people with their minds, from their limbs, to the way they acted, to their entire bodies. Hell, I even read that the strongest of them could even mentally speak with people. Telepathy was an awesome ability I would have loved having the pleasure of using.

Torune-san was the same. A calm man with the professionalism of a killer. Yet, he had been amicable and sent me a small smile once or twice. Maybe the smile was not as genuine as the ones Shin sent me at times, but it was friendly and polite. Torune was another of sensei's former students. He was an orphan from the Aburame clan, whose father died when he was very young. Sensei picked him up after he showed him his talents to him. I couldn't describe how he looked very much, besides the short black hair on his head, because all he did was wear a mask that only showed his jaw.

Yet another orphan. With how many orphans Danzō-sensei picked up, you would think he would be the one running the Konoha Orphanage. I was an orphan too – did Danzō-sensei have a habit picking up helpless kids up and training them to kill people?

Eh, details. There wasn't anything I was going to do about it, or willing to do about. Maybe those orphans had been like me. Having no parents was something everyone looked down against, adults and kids alike. Maybe those orphans wanted attention, respect, and power like me.

"Uzumaki-kun." A female voice brings me out of my thoughts. "Danzō-sama has asked me to retrieve you and bring him into his office."

"Ara? I wonder what the old coot wants, dattebayo. Maybe he lost his walking stick again, eh?" I tried joking lamely, trying to incite a chuckle, a snort, a laugh – anything out of Amaya.

The black haired girl simply does an almost imperceptible nod in my direction and gestures me to follow her. I grumbled, "One of these days, I will get you to laugh, Amaya-senpai."

She smiled politely, but I know a fake smile when I see one. "Of course, Uzumaki-kun."

"And stop calling me 'Uzumaki-kun', dattebayo! I told you just to call me Naruto! I call you Amaya, after all."

"Of course, Uzumaki-kōhai."

I threw my hands up in the air in frustration. "Ugh, you're impossible."

A small smile on her face lights up, before she turned her back to me and started to leave the room I was practicing with my sword in.

I snorted in amusement. That smile wasn't as fake as the last one. Maybe I was starting to see some change in Amaya-senpai.

I left my wooden dagger in the training room, and straightened out my Root jacket and my black pants. I liked this outfit. The jacket was a solid black, with red straps on the shoulders. I also had a dark orange kimono under it and a black sash with it. A bright color like orange caused a stink in Root, since this group had been already an organization that was supposed to even more secretive than regular ANBU themselves. It took some time, but I managed to convince Sensei to let me wear it, at least until I was officially a shinobi. Unlike me, Sensei did not appreciate my love for the color orange. He could barely tolerate my obsession for ramen. Sensei was a party pooper like that.

It was dark enough to not completely look like I was shouting at my enemies to kill me, so Danzō-sensei didn't say much else about it. I like orange – sue me. It was a recent color I started to enjoy. I just had the pleasure of buying a few outfits today with the monthly stipend Root gave me to spend on getting basic materials such as shuriken, kunai, and outfits. I wasn't allowed to buy anything – legally anyway – other than that. No civilian could buy weaponry under the age 18 anyway. Even then, civilians couldn't purchase any ninja weapon or tool like exploding tags, ninja wire, or smoke bombs. Academy students were allowed to buy kunai and shuriken, but that's about it, really.

I used my money to buy shuriken and kunai mostly. I was given the spot where Root's special colleague sold goods to us for a discount. All I had to flash the cursed seal on my tongue, and he knew where I hailed from without a word. After I became a genin, I would get more discounts on better stuff, like swords. I was eyeing up a nice tantō in the store. Sharper edge and not the tip-less Root standard. Much thicker blade than the manufactured short sword most Root shinobi wielded. When I asked the shopkeeper about it, the Root colleague said it was a yoroidōshi. Armor piercing weapon. Great for stabbing people at a close range, which is where my style of fighting was starting to go down to. Danzō-sensei had made the suggestion long ago that wind release users had a great advantage fighting at short to mid-range, and since I was a swordsman, I would be better suited in an opponent's face instead behind, throwing long-ranged attacks.

The yoroidōshi fit me. I wouldn't have to worry about pesky armor some ninja like to use, and with wind – the ever cutting element – my style of fighting would be feared. Already imagining when I mastered wind as an element and using it one with my sword, I couldn't shake my excitement of buying the weapon. It would work awesomely if I had it now.

The shopkeeper knew I had my eye out on it, so he winked my way, and said he would try to keep it just for me. I thanked him, and wished him a good day after I left the store. He was a nice guy. I would definitely be visiting the store often. The first thing I would do when I became a genin would buy the yoroidōshi.

The last bit of my money went towards clothing and food to eat. Clothing that annoyed Danzō-sensei with the bright colors I liked to pick out, especially orange. Every time he saw me with it on, he had scolded me, as did others as well. All I did was stick my tongue out, and laugh at their annoyance at me.

Just to appease the old man, however, I wasn't a complete bastard when he sent me out to pick out some clothing for myself. I picked out a dark red, dark blue and, just for him, I also picked a dark green color kimono – his favorite color – so I could switch between them all. I just liked orange when we had our down times. I was still in the training part of my initiation into Root. I wasn't going on any missions anytime soon. Technically, it was illegal for any civilian to go on missions that were for ninjas anyway in Konohagakure. If Sensei didn't want Sarutobi-jiji up his ass about that, he wouldn't even try.

I walked up to my teacher's office, with Amaya at my side. I saw Sensei sitting at his desk, conversing with his guards, talking about something light. As soon as we come inside, the conversation in the room dies down. We both bowed deeply and, at Danzō-sensei's command, we arose and stood still.

I looked over at the Yamanaka bodyguard at Sensei's side and send him a nod. I didn't expect a nod from him, and I didn't get one, but one would have been nice.

Sensei came from his desk, stood up with his only hand resting on the familiar wooden cane I have always seen him walk around with. He addressed me with a small smile. "Naruto. I am surprised you're not busy working with the waterfall assignment I gave you a week ago."

I smiled slightly back. "Clones. Working outside the village as we speak. They can be quite useful since they don't need me to be in a close radius of me to function."

He nodded at that. "Of course. Well, the second part of your training will begin." The man said, this time no longer having a smile on his face. He was serious.

"What is next, sir?" Sensei was in business mode. That meant I was in business mode.

"The next part of the initiation into Root will be a test of your durability. When I tell you to, you will step into a room of which you will meet with one of my top acolytes. You will follow his instructors and wait for your next part of your test."

I nodded and bow, "Yes, Danzō-sama." I said seriously. Whatever next test sensei had in mind, I would pass it with flying colors.

Sensei just nodded and told me to follow Torune out of the room. I looked towards Amaya and she whispered a "Good luck" to me. It was a surprising effort. Amaya never really made much of an effort to talk to me, unless I forced her into conversation or my sensei told her to speak to me. I sent her a nod and make my way out of the room with the Aburame. Yet, I couldn't help but to think the "Good luck" was a little ominous.

Torune and I walked at a slow pace, walking down the steel and stone corridor until we stopped at a room. He simply says to me, "Enter" and I obliged. He then takes a look at me, and mutters a "Good luck" to me like Amaya. Again, Torune never tried talking to me, and he uncharacteristically muttered something my way. It all felt this part of my training was going to truly test me.

Nevertheless, I grinned confidently at the Aburame, studying the white and plain room for a small moment, and walk up to the new man in the room.

I studied his appearance and there isn't much. The man is wearing the standard black jacket of Root, with a matching kimono, pants and sandals. He's a lot taller than me, of course, and he's wearing a white mask with five red dots painted on its forehead. "Uzumaki-san?"

I nodded, and he gestured me to the door. "Shut the door, will you?" He said calmly. I did what he asked, remembering Sensei's words to follow this man's instruction. "I am Kaji, and I will be your instructor today. The test I will administer will test your loyalty to Root. This test will go on for about 45 minutes. After that, your results will be read to you. Should you fail, you will be kicked out of Root and possibly will never become a shinobi."

I gulped. Being kicked out of Root was one thing, but being kicked out of the Shinobi Program altogether? How? Did Danzō-sensei even have that authority? I was honestly spooked. I kept calm, and I send out a nod to the man. No time for worrying about it. "What do I need to know?"

"You will be given a code that you must memorize. You have a minute to memorize this three digit number." He gave me a sheet of paper with the number "265" jotted down on it. I looked it over and stare at it, trying to burn the number into my memory. "When you are ready, sit in the chair in the middle of the room and await the first part of the test." He then points to the only chair in the room – a metal fold out chair – and tells me to sit in and wait patiently.

Then I saw him weaving a few hand seals and I heard him shout out, "**Nehan Shōja no Jutsu!**"

And the world became black.

* * *

I woke up with a brain-splitting headache, and I felt terrible. Perhaps it's because I just woke up with the nastiest headache. Perhaps it's because I'm hung off the ground, hands up and my wrists tied to a tan-colored rope. Perhaps I noticed painful punches being laid upon my face and stomach. Perhaps it's because I tasted the copper taste of blood in my mouth.

Then it hit me – like literally. Someone's punching the shit out of me, like I was a punching bag.

I chocked out a painful groan as a blow connected with my face and then my stomach. Then I heard a chuckle that could make kids like me shit their pants. In a deep voice, a male's voice said, "So, little shit finally woke up, boys."

"Heh, finally. I was thinking we couldn't get to play." Another male voice said, this time sounding much more bloodthirsty.

"Easy Akira..." A third voice chuckled from the darkness. "We don't want unnecessary bloodshed. Well, more than what boss has been giving him for the last few minutes."

I took my time out to see a very large shinobi, with no hitai-ate on his head. He had dark hair, a large nose, and a gnarly scar running on his face, stretching from his ear to his nose. He had just a plain black cloak on, with a red jacket under. On his back, a katana rested there. The leader's two lackeys sauntered up behind him with no hitai-ate on their foreheads. They were nothing special, sporting similar outfits as their leader and similar cheeky grins. One had short hair than the other two, but that was about it. They looked like the type of people I passed in crowds and never batted an eyelash at. Forgettable. Nothing.

I noticed something else as I gazed at my surrounding with puffy eyes.

I'm no longer in the room with Kaji-san or doing any sort of testing of any sort. Now, I'm in some sort of dark room with a spotlight shining on my face. If I stared up into the bright-ass light, my eyes would start hurting.

I was a few inches off the ground, dangling uselessly and an easy target for a beating.

And so I get it, with a person snapping a brutal punch into my face, and another one doing the same again to me, but to my stomach. Then the third one punched me hard in my face, right in between my eyes and at the start of my nose. It's so hard, that I feel my nose bone break. It earned a scream out of me. I screamed so loudly, anyone in a 500 ft radius can hear me. I feel a warm feeling trickling down my face and I know it's my blood. I can't see it until it drips on my kimono and I have seen their smiles.

"Had enough, kid?"

I panted, looking at him with defiant eyes. "Fuck you."

"Oh ho, this kid is asking to be killed, Yung and Junpei. Let's fulfill his request!"

"Not yet, Akira. We'll be done soon. The kid's going to cave in, unless he wants us to butcher his cute little face." I felt a kunai graze against my skin. Its cold metal gave me a shiver that runs down my spine. "Ante up, kid. We just want to know the code. Once we get the code, you'll be freed and you can run back to your village."

"Code?" I asked stupidly. "What code?"

"The code, kid! It's the key to getting out of this place and finishing your test. You give us the code, and then we let you go. You don't tell us, and well, the beating continues."

"And why would I do that? This is just a genjutsu." Kaji already said it would be. This was all fake. I scoffed. "I don't need to tell you shit. I can outlast some damn illusion."

I said that confidently, and then I felt a sharp sting of pain when the leader of these nameless shinobi slices my leg with his kunai. I yelled, and the pain worsened when he jammed that same kunai into my knee cap. The genjutsu felt so real. Then he cut the same leg again with a newer kunai, leaving another deep cut. I tried my best to hold back tears from my face. Pain-filled tears still slipped from my eyes, and I looked down at my dangling legs.

The large shinobi, Yung, laughed again, my blood now on his jacket. "Oh, you poor little fool. You think this is a genjutsu, huh?" Then I felt something creep over me. Fear, death, hatred. Was, was this killer intent? Shit that Sensei warned me a long time about that some enemy ninjas exhibit to scare their enemies. The type of shit that makes you want to slit your throat and kill yourself with a kunai. Fortunately – or unfortunately – for me, I don't have such a weapon. "Danzō-sama gave us free reign to torture your little ass. A little something special for you, fucking brat."

"B-Bullshit. Sensei wouldn't let me just get tortured like this." Right? Sensei cared about me, right? This was some time of fucking genjutsu to fuck with me.

"If this was genjutsu, you would feel a disturbance in your chakra, correct?" To be honest, I didn't even feel my chakra at all. Either I was still dizzy with pain from how much they did to me, or they did something to fuck with my chakra. Some techniques out there had the ability to scramble a ninja's chakra for a little while, so it was hard for them to control that power. Not that it matters anyway. My hands were tied up, separated, so I couldn't even force them together to use the **Genjutsu Kai **technique.

I hated breaking genjutsu. I always sucked with doing it. My chakra control was good these days, but breaking illusions were never my forte. I haven't even gotten to the point of being able to break higher level ones and this had to be one. Not for a second I didn't believe it was one.

Then they started beating on me for the next ten consecutive minutes. One stabbed me with a kunai a few times, another kneed me in my privates, and the last one was playing dentist and knocking some of my fucking teeth out my mouth. So I was out of breath, full of holes, and missing teeth. If I could just get out of this... I was hanging there, at their mercy. All I knew then was the meaning of true pain. Getting lumps in a spar with Amaya-senpai, and Danzō-sensei meant nothing compared to this. Having the village hate me because they were convinced that I was the Kyūbi incarnate was nothing compared to this.

This was hell itself, and I predicted that it would represent my ninja career for the rest of the my life. All the hardships I will face as a ninja. I got beat by the inch of my life. Stab, punch, knee. Knee, punch, stab. Knee, stab, punch. Stab, knee, punch. What was really minutes, felt like hours. It was so bad that I forgot it was a genjutsu for a second, until I felt someone touch me with a warm hand and whispers to me.

A ninja grabbed my chin and holds onto it tightly. I don't know if its Akira or Yung or the other guy, and I don't care. I'm still very disorientated. "So, why don't you tell us what the code is? It would save you an entire beating, kid."

A silly grin came on my face. My visage was bruised, sporting a busted lip, and two black eyes. A really bad idea ran through my head. Being the stupid kid I am, I proudly spat back, "I forgot the code."

I barely could see, due to one of them trying to gouge one of my eyeballs out with their thumb from before, but I have seen annoyance blossom on the face of the large ninja, Yung. "You fucking did what?"

If I could have shrugged, I would have. "I said I forgot-" I never finished, as Yung punched me so hard in my stomach, that I puked my breakfast. I fly back, with a wail. I was so fucked up, I couldn't even recall what I ate _for_ breakfast.

"You fucking forgot, eh? Well, we'll help you remember it!" Yung shouted like a madman. Then he took a swing to my jaw so hard, I swore he dislocated it. My jaw was buzzing in pain.

My head was swimming, and I was lost in my thoughts, trying my best not to cry out of anguish. I vaguely remembered what I ate after I got kneed in the teeth by Yung for the second time today.

Smoked sausage, toast, a bowl of fruit and some milk. Now it was a disgusting brown, red, and pink paste of vomit.

They asked me again to tell them the code after another few more minutes. I was counting how many times Akira stabbed me in my knee caps, but they stopped once more and the third member of the group said in a bored tone, "Give up already kid. You did well, but you're not cut out for Root. Maybe if you beg hard enough, Danzō-sama can still allow you to become a shinobi."

I panted, trying my best to catch my breath. "If... If I give you guys the code, I wouldn't deserve to become a shinobi. Turning my b-back on the person who helped me become strong, who helped me get closer to completing my dream? Betraying the one person in this damn village who acknowledges me? I would never... I would never do it!"

"You're a fucking fool, kid."

I had to answer smartly for that. "The biggest one." Honestly, I don't think I could take it anymore. This genjutsu was the worst one I have ever been in – a fucking nightmare. Then, I opened my big mouth and practically told the larger man to hit me. I closed my eyes, and waited patiently for the hit to my face but it never came.

"I think that's enough, Akira-san." A familiar voice says, and I see from the darkness of the room a person step inside. My master, Danzō. I see my three assailants back up from me, and I get a glimpse at the newer people in my room.

"Sen... Sensei.." I felt my teacher's hand on my shoulder, and I groaned in pain. "I-I..."

"Rest. You have done well, Naruto. More than I can hope." Sensei said, almost soothingly, as I have seen three ninja plop down and join us in the room. Immediately, I felt the soothing green chakra of medical ninjutsu.

I smiled at him, blood caked on my remaining teeth. "I did it. I didn't give them the code..."

"I know, child," Either I detected still under some effects of the genjutsu or a hint of sorrow in my master's voice. "Your test was not an easy one to condone, but it had to be done. In your life, if you have the misfortune of being captured by the enemy, you will have to deal with the same torture I just put you through."

"Heh. I'm guessing that's without the genjutsu." I said sarcastically, making up my mind to never be captured in my life. I would rather die fighting than to be captured and tortured.

Sensei just shook his head, a frown on his face. "You were never under a genjutsu, child."

* * *

I had injuries for the next few days, but thanks to the Kyūbi and Shinji-san – the medical-nin I met when I first fought Amaya-senpai – I wasn't down for long. By the time of the third night, my cuts were fully gone without so much of a scar. My jaw was back in its right place – they had to snap it back together and it hurt like hell – and the only thing I had to worry about was taking my painkillers for the next few days. There wasn't a lot that detract me from training, so I went back to it. I decided I would keep it easy and not train extensively and brutally as I usually did. I did my rep of bokken swings in the training room and tinkered with some of my lower-level ninjutsu, before relaxing for a few hours.

Sensei explained a little after I woke up from my injuries that the torture had been real and it wasn't a genjutsu. Mine had been different that the others before me. While they had genjutsu and a short time because of the fear of a normal human's beings limits being broken, my test was longer and both _real_. He didn't necessarily say why my test was so brutal, but I figured it out myself.

It was made to break me down, and reshape me. The test was to serve a purpose to not only see how long I would last but to see if I was truly ready to face the harsh reality of being a shinobi. Being a ninja wasn't about saving princesses and being a hero. Most of the time, you were the bad guy. Most of the time you were killing the princesses for jealous nobles. Most of the time, you bared the weight of the village on your shoulders, and you were looked upon to do the best damn job you could do for your village or die trying.

It was something I tried ignoring when being in Root. I tried ignoring that maybe the reason most of the people here was because Danzō-sensei _broke_ them. He broke them down to their most weakest forms, molded them with clay and shaped them into hardened shinobi. Maybe the reason Fū-san, Torune-san, and Amaya-senpai, and everyone in Root acted like expressionless lap dogs awaiting orders because they _were_ lap dogs to Danzō Shimura. Everybody was a soldier in the Foundation, everyone who passed the second test.

Sensei said there was one more test coming up in a few months, close to the date of me graduating from the Academy. Training was one thing, but that torture was one of the hardest things I was forced to live through. Now it was another test, and I knew it was the hardest one of them all.

But I quickly learned not to care. I was so close to becoming a Root member, a shinobi. I was almost there. Just one more test. One more test and I would be ready. I refused to give up. I had my dreams, my ambitions. I had thoughts, I had views. They would be heard. I already promised to myself that I would care out his will if I made in Root but I would not become a nameless ninja in this organization. My dream was going to happen. I would be remembered.

I would not be forgotten.

_**End.**_

* * *

**A/N**: And thus, the second test. Up next, the third...

Shin and Sai have modified backgrounds. In canon, Shin was already a Root member who already went through emotional condition, yet connected with Sai because Shin liked Sai's art and saw something inside him. Then he died soon after. In this story, they are adopted brothers already, and Shin encouraged Sai should join in order for them to become stronger and recognized by the village. Shin is also starting to become important in Naruto's life as well.

The torture scene was necessary, showing Naruto that the shinobi world could be a dark and unforgiving place – a lesson he's starting to take it. More and more Naruto is become aware of his master's brutal methods, mental training and emotional conditioning. I imagined that Root goes through the same routine in canon as well, or close to it. Still, it doesn't prepare him for what his master has in store for him next...

Thanks to everyone who's so far liking the story. I'm enjoying writing it. It's nice to write stuff like this again. I'm not doing too shabby, if I do say myself.

OCs

Akira, Yung and Junpei – Minor characters that only will serve as torturers of Naruto and associates of Danzō. They acted their part and more than likely, will never be in this fic again.  
Kaji – Faceless soldier. Shares the same name with _Evangelion's_ Ryōji Kaji. Same thing with Shinji from before. Doesn't share his triple agent status though.

Hehe, thanks for reading, guys. Until next time!**Translation List:**

Hitai-ate – Forehead Protector  
Henge no Jutsu – Transformation Technique  
Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – Shadow Clone Technique  
Kawirimi no Jutsu – Body Replacement Technique  
Nawenuke no Jutsu – Rope Escape Technique  
Nehan Shōja no Jutsu – Temple Of Nirvana Technique  
Yoroidōshi – Armor Piercer: An extra thick, 20-22 cm tantō with the ability to pierce armor while at close-range combat, even at grappling distance. The blade had some examples of different designs being as small as 15 cm as well.


	3. Three

Three

It's only a month now until I would become a genin. I'm so close to becoming a genin, I can taste it. The excitement doesn't stop me from doing anything. In fact, my work ethic has increased. Soon, I would be carrying out missions for my nation and for my leaders.

I went through my normal training regime in a trance, stabbing at the training dummy at a nice pace with my tip-less wooden tantō. Not too fast, not too slow. I didn't want to go too crazy now. This was a warm-up before I get into a spar with Genkai-sensei, my newer teacher who was taking over from where Danzō-sensei had left off at.

The person who would see to the rest of my training would be a man named Genkai. Danzō-sensei set him up with me in the hope to help me with my wind release techniques. Yes, techniques. I was no longer stuck on trying to cut a waterfall in half. The day I completed my second test, my clones had finally broken through and successfully split the water stream. When I tried myself when I went there a week later, I effortlessly finished the exercise.

Now, it was time to try learning wind release techniques. I had thought old man Danzō was the only one in Root that had a wind affinity, but Genkai-sensei had proven me wrong. The old man definitely knew who he was picking to supersede my training. From time to time, Danzō-sensei promised he would see how my progress was going. Other than that, it was just me and Genkai-sensei.

Genkai was a tall man with an athletic build, tanned skin, dark brown medium length hair, a brown goatee and hazel eyes. He wore the standard small black Root jacket with a dark red kimono under and a similar tip-less tantō on his back, similar to mine. He introduced himself to me the day I became a genin and told me he was going to help me with my ninjutsu and kenjutsu. He was much like most of the other Root ninjas I knew – detached, emotionless, and stoic. So if you were looking for personality or anything there, there were none.

Then again, talking to anyone here was like talking to a brick wall.

...Man, I need some associates outside Root. It wasn't, however, _just _the people here. I needed more activities outside Root.

After my "second test", I was more and more sure not to spend that much time here. I spent weeks here, sometimes without even ever going to my apartment once. Now I was sure I needed some fresh air. Getting tortured – no matter if it was a test or not – was something that left its mark on my mind. I went to sleep sometimes thinking about it, woke up from dreams about it. Sometimes, I couldn't sleep because of it. I needed to spend some time away from this place, maybe find a few friends. I was young – I was sure I'd get some people to hang with me.

Then I wondered how the hell would I pull that off. Being a ninja dedicated to his training solely also made me quite the socially awkward person.

Bah. All of that crap I would worry about later.

In the corner of my eye, I saw Genkai-sensei come up with a bokken, a size larger than my own weapon. "Today, we are going to practice fighting against an opponent who wields a larger weapon than you, such as a katana or a chokutō. You have been trained in the art of using a tantō, which is a very different art than using, say, a katana or wakizashi like normal ANBU uses. Your blade has both advantages and disadvantages. A tantō is a thick, short blade that is designed to quickly stab through an opponent's defense. The edge of the sword has the ability to cut too. However, due to how small the weapon is, the tantō lacks any withstanding power. While your blade is quicker than most large blades, it lacks power like other swords have. Fighting an opponent with a large sword head-on is a fool's errand."

I understood. Much like the taijutsu style I practiced, my weapon wasn't designed for long battles of attrition. It was made to get a shot in and get the job done before your opponent could get a hit in. "Fortunately for us, we have wind chakra, right?"

Genkai nodded. "Yes. Channeling wind chakra into our weapons increases the tantō's cutting and piercing abilities greatly. The weakest in our blades becomes overshadowed by our strengths. Armor can become pierced easily with wind."

I whistled, looking at my weapon with a small grin. The cool stuff wind can do. What a kick ass element.

"However, that is besides the point. Normally, you are not supposed to fight a practitioner of a large sword head on with a smaller blade. Remember your training: fight fast, and fight _smart_."

I immediately nodded and waited for further instructions from the man as I planted my feet and gripped my wooden sword tightly.

Genkai tells me to get ready, and I do. Then Genkai rushes towards me with the bokken in his hands, swing towards me with the bamboo weapon, and I roll out of the way. Genkai-sensei is almost as fast as Danzō-sensei, and I didn't get much warning after he charged towards me again. This time he swung down at me with his weapon and I didn't have time to dodge, only to defend. So I did, bringing up my blunted weapon and holding it up as a tool to protect my chest. I struggled under him, trying to keep Genkai from hitting me. If he hit me, it was an indicator that if this was a real battle, I would be dead.

Suddenly, I remembered Genkai-sensei's words about a dagger not being as strong as a sword but faster. Staying there and defending wasn't my purpose, especially when Genkai-sensei naturally was much stronger than me. If he wanted to, he could easily overpower me and defeat me. The man had experience and skill. So I let the hold go, and backed up, waiting for another swing from the man.

He came and raised his sword over his head, indicating he was going for an overhead strike. _'There!' _I said in my head. _'There is my opening!'_

So I take it, stabbed Genkai-sensei in his chest with my weapon and roll away before he could recover and hit me. Then I stabbed him again in his back and kept it moving, waiting again for my next opening. Sensei is hot on my heels again, and swiped in my direction again. I dodged the blow, ducking under, and stabbed him in his knees. I see the man's slight wince, and I immediately attacked his leg, cutting at it. After I saw him trying to stab me in the head with the bokken, I rolled again and move away from him.

I was preparing for more until Genkai-sensei stops me with a raised hand. "Good, I see you are getting it. Larger swords take more time to prepare an attack than a small blade like the quick tantō. Before your opponent has any time to lift his weapon up, you can be in and out of his range of attack. Attack, then move. Rinse and repeat. Although I am sure if your opponent foolishly goes for an overhead strike like I did in the beginning of our spar, he would have died."

I grinned in satisfaction. The brown haired man wasn't exactly praising me, but I took it as such. "Thank you, sensei." I thanked the man, and I bowed my head deeply to him, showing my gratitude.

He did the same, although in a less exaggerated fashion. "Now it's time I show you another wind release technique." Wondering what technique he had in mind, I waited patiently as he pulled out a kunai.

Then, the man held the kunai in front of him and stared forward at it for a few seconds. Genkai-sensei muttered something I couldn't hear, and the technique comes to life. Wind chakra is summoned into his mouth. Out of his mouth, Genkai-sensei blew the wind chakra onto the kunai, and a green glow took over it, shaping the once small kunai blade into a large blade. It almost looks like a curved sword – a scimitar...

Genkai showed a small smile when he addressed me. "This is the **Fūton: Shinkūjin **technique. It is a chakra flow technique capable of turning a small weapon like a kunai or a shuriken into a makeshift sword. It is a useful technique, in case you don't have a sword of your own to apply your chakra flow to. You can use your kunai and it becomes a deadly long blade. Or," He pulled out a single shuriken, and took in a deep breath, before breathing out green wind chakra on the shuriken. Then I saw him throw it, and the shuriken became a flying buzzsaw, buzzing angrily in the air until it hit a stone wall in the room. "You can turn your projectiles into buzzsaws with large range and cutting power."

I almost couldn't contain my excitement. Such a cool technique! I can turn something as simple as a kunai or a shuriken into deadly weapons without much even needing to use hand seals. I had never been too fast at using hand seals, and I knew by the time I was finished with them, an opponent could be in my face, attacking me. Now, all I had to do with this technique is prepare the necessary wind chakra in my mouth, blow on one of my weapons, and it was ready to go.

After Genkai gave me the instructions to the technique for about ten minutes, and demonstrated a few more times, he left me in the room to train on my own. I immediately worked on it for the next hour.

I personally had a love for techniques that didn't require hand seals. Generally, they were much harder to learn, but they were also the ones that could be prepared quickly, faster than normal techniques that required both hand seals and the right application of chakra. Techniques that lacked hand seals only required application of chakra, and BOOM, it was done. My fighting style was to be quicker than my opponent, strike first, and hard. Finish the match – don't let it linger. Doing ninjutsu made the fight linger. I had to finish the battle as quickly and efficiently as I could. That was how we were trained to fight like. We weren't shinobi flashing off every technique we got. Showoffs eventually died.

I loved showing off my arsenal of techniques against people in a spar, but in a full-out battle, chakra was more sparse. All the spars, all the training I was going to, was friendly, battle was not. Thus, chakra control was important, or the user would just burn it all up on the weakest of techniques. If I never bothered with chakra control, I would be one of those gallivanting fools who shot technique after technique at their opponents. If I didn't have the Kyūbi inside of me, I would have died from chakra exhaustion. While I did have room to use some high-level techniques that cost massive amounts of chakra, I wasn't going to do that. What would that accomplish if I just did a technique that was capable of great power and destruction, if it just wasted all of my chakra after? What if I missed my target with my destructive technique? What next?

The only time I would use all of my chakra was if I was in a life or death situation. Or defending my country and village. Or sacrificing my life for the Hokage or Danzō-sensei. Other than that, I wouldn't use so much of a drop of chakra without a good reason. I had a whole lot of chakra to myself – that much was true – but there was no need to waste it needlessly.

I practiced with the **Fūton: Shinkūjin **a little bit, channeling a bit of my chakra and directed it into my mouth. It was pretty strange of a feeling. The very few wind release techniques I knew did not involve channeling chakra into my mouth and then spewing it out. Wind was also a powerful and destructive element, much like fire. If done wrong, the technique could very well end up hurting the user. I did not want to cut up my mouth because I gathered too much chakra. So I kept the chakra to the most smallest amount I could conjure.

After a few seconds, I do see a green aura imbue my kunai. It is small, and the blade I produce is smaller than the large curved sword I saw Genkai-sensei make. However, I know it's because I only poured a small amount of chakra into the kunai.

After playing with my technique for a few minutes, I smiled at my progress, and ended the technique. I placed the kunai I was testing back into its back pouch and smoothed out my dark blue kimono. I was giving my red one a break, and I never wore the green kimono. As for my orange one, I had to throw it out after what happened a few months ago. Thanks to my "second test".

I never had the time to replace. Neither did I really care to do so. I had enough already, and the stipend I was getting would do better being used for weapons, and tools, instead of fashion. That was it. Nothing more, nothing less.

I exited out the room, and headed to my room in the base. The room was plainly painted with the color tan, lit up with blue fluorescent lights, and medium sized. It had a single mattress – which wasn't all that comfortable to sleep in – a desk where I could read and work at, a closet where I stored the smallest amount of clothing inside, a dresser where I stored more clothing at, and a working bathroom with a shower in it. It was an okay room, but it wasn't cozy. If you were looking for something cozy, Root wasn't for that. Then again, my house wasn't that cozy either.

I was barely sweating, but I want to take a shower. Nothing wrong with wanting to feel clean. So I undressed, get some spare underwear from a draw in my dresser, a navy blue shirt and throw it onto my bed. Deodorant's in the bathroom, and so is the soap.

Twenty minutes later, I dried my hair with a small towel, while a larger one is wrapped around my waist. I looked in the mirror in the room, and I sent a smile towards my reflection. I knew it was slow but my body was showing the fruits of my training. My arms were toned now, cut with some lean muscles. I flexed my bicep and make a muscle. A nice size, I grinned to myself about. My chest was starting to shape out well too. Then I looked at my abs, and I am starting to see tone there too. All those crunches I done before I started my daily training was paying off. When I first got here, I had the figure of a normal nine-year old boy – pudgy, without any sort of toned muscle on my bones. Now, I looked like a well-fit shinobi.

_'Looking good, Naruto,' _I smiled to myself before stepping away from the mirror momentarily to throw on my boxers and shirt. I placed the towels back in the bathroom neatly, and then went for my newer casual outfit. Out of my closet, I grabbed a dark orange jacket, with black on the upper shoulders area and white tassels. With the jacket, a matching orange pants. It was something else I picked up when I went out to shop months ago. I didn't get to wear it much since I never really left the Root base. _'Something I'm going to change,' _I thought with a frown. Nevertheless, I put the jacket on, the pants next, then my sandals, and finally I'm dressed.

I came back up to my mirror and smiled at my reflection before going towards the room's doorway. I clicked the lights off, and shut the door. I would make sure I wouldn't return back to the base until nightfall.

I was about halfway out of the base until a voice stopped me, "Going somewhere, Dickless-kun?"

I held back an exasperated sigh. "Shin-senpai. So glad I can see you before I went into town..." My voice was dripping in sarcasm. I turned and saw Shin walk up to me, greeting me with his terrible nickname for me. He's in his usual attire, which is the Root jacket and matching pants on.

I could remark on how weird I thought it was for a guy to show his entire midriff to the world, but I didn't. Shin was older than me by at least two years. I was ten, while Shin was twelve. Shin was always taller than me, and his outfit reflected that. It showed his entire lean abdomen as well, making me somewhat uncomfortable to look at. At least for me. In the end, it didn't matter how he looked. Whether or not I agreed with his fashion tastes, he was still an annoying ass.

Especially when he couldn't watch his tongue.

"Dickless-kun" here, "Numb nuts" there; I don't know where the hell Shin picked up such foul language at, especially since his brother Sai was a polite person, but it was slowing grating on my nerves lately.

I don't even know why Shin recently started calling me names. Perhaps it was because he beat me in a spar before. It was only taijutsu. Shin's always had pretty good taijutsu. If it was all out, I was sure I could kick his butt. Either way, I don't think I earned the title "dickless" though. We were kids, yet Shin was mentioning to me about penises, and dicks, and stuff.

Whatever, Shin was weird. Him and his brother. Wait, that wasn't fair – at least Sai was nicer to me than Shin. That might have been since we weren't close at all, but still. It mattered anyway. For someone who talked to me more than anyone else in this place, and for someone who was supposed to be cool with me, Shin was the total definition of a bastard to me.

Wait, we all were. Technically speaking. All orphans.

Huh.

"You look like you got a day off." Shin said, pointing to my jacket. "Danzō-sama wouldn't have let you train here with that on."

I scoffed, "I don't care what the old man thinks. Orange is a kick-ass, color!"

The gray-haired boy shook his head. "Whatever you say, Dickless-kun."

"Will you stop calling me that crap?"

"Hm. Whenever you win in our spars, Dickless-kun." Hence, where the nickname came from.

"You totally know if it was all out, I would kick your ass, Shin-senpai." I declared with a grin.

"But it never is, Dickless." He shoots me a smirk of his own. "So, get used to me calling you Dickless until I lose."

"How in the hell does Sai-kōhai deal with your ass, Senpai?" I rolled my eyes at the lively Root member, but it's without any true annoyance. Our conversations were always weird. We traded insults, grin at each, bump each others fists and went our own merry ways. It was a hell of a lot better than talking to other people.

I shook my head at him, chuckling amicable. "I'm going out for a little bit. Won't be back until the evening. Probably won't be back for dinner either. I'll just eat outside. Tell Danzō-sama I'm out and about in Konoha if he asks about me."

Shin nodded. "I'll tell Master, in case he needs you."

I smiled slightly at him, bumping his fist with my own. "Thanks. Now, I'll be heading out. If I don't see you later tonight, I'll see you tomorrow, Shin-senpai." I turned away from him and started walking the direction towards the door to the village.

"Have fun, Dickless-kun!" He called from behind my back, and I concealed another sigh. Shin really was such an ass.

One day, I will kick his ass, and he won't call me "dickless" anymore.

* * *

I closed the secret lid to get to Root's underground base and make my way into an abandoned building. Once I left the building, I would be on the streets of Konohagakure. It was nearby a district that once belonged to the Uchiha Clan before their genocide.

I winced when I thought about it. The Uchiha Clan, a once proud clan and formerly one of the most prominent clans of Konohagakure. The wielders of the famous Sharingan, the rival clan of the once great Senju Clan. They had been there ever since the beginning of Konohagakure itself. Now, after three years, they were no more. I heard of the story a few times. It came up awkwardly in the Academy, and I once asked Danzō-sensei about it a year ago when I was first started training with him. The clan was slaughtered one night, all by one person, for apparently no reason at all.

Itachi Uchiha was a taboo name in Konohagakure. That man alone was a monster, a monster who slaughtered hundreds of people in one night, people that had been _his _family members. He killed the men, the women, and almost all the kids. Callously killing many for no reason in the world. There had to be no reason. I couldn't phantom there was such a reason anyway. Who decides that, "Hey, you know what? I'm going to kill my whole clan off, and leave no one alive because I can!" I'll tell you decides that: a madman. Someone off their entire _fucking_ rocker.

Itachi was someone that the average shinobi should emulate. Once so talented, powerful, and focused for his age. He was a fantastic shinobi, who graduated from his Academy at the wee age of 7, the age where I was struggling through school. He made chūnin at 10, ANBU captain at 13. Itachi was a ninja with supreme talent, even if he was from a gifted clan like the Uchiha Clan. He was the star of the clan. He was a prodigy. He was an icon.

Now, he was the biggest disgrace in Konoha's history. A mass murderer, a criminal, and a wanted missing-nin.

I wondered sometimes, you know, like everyone else. What in the hell caused him to fall from grace? What made him go batshit insane? Was it the fact that he was a young weapon for his age? The age 7 was a very young age to become a ninja, and before that, young Itachi had been training to become a shinobi. Did he feel pushed? Too pushed? Stressed? Too much pressure? He was the pride of the once great Uchiha Clan. Then he blew it.

He killed so many people, and only left _one _alive to tell the tale. One scarred kid to see the mess Itachi created. He left a kid to fend for himself, not even a family member or two. For his own sick reasons, Itachi left his brother and made him watch Itachi kill their parents over, and over, and over again.

I'm talking about Sasuke Uchiha, the last Uchiha in Konohagakure. I thought I was fucked up after that torture I had to go through for about two hours. Rumor had it that Itachi's younger brother had to watch a genjutsu for several hours before authorities found him. Lord knows how fucked up that kid was.

He probably made talking to Root members a delightful endeavor.

In all, I hoped never to chase down Itachi Uchiha, at least not now. Itachi had been able to slay almost two hundred Uchiha Clan members alone, including his own father and mother with the help of the fabled, and very powerful, Mangekyō Sharingan, before fleeing the ruined Uchiha Estate and then the village. When Konohagakure subquencenly sent hunter-nin after him, the hunter-nin never came back alive.

He was a boogeyman of the entire ninja system. A dangerous man-slayer capable of defeating even the best of Konohagakure. Danzō-sama had once said Itachi was incredibly powerful and truly lived up to his former position as an ANBU captain. A missing-nin that often striked fear into the hearts of shinobi from any country and village. Rumor even had it that he started running with a group of other S-rank missing-nin. More S-rank ninja. That put a shiver up my spine just thinking about that. I knew one day we would have to deal with them, for ultimately, a lot of those shinobi were threats to Konohagakure.

I still had a lot of work to do. I didn't even consider myself a B-rank shinobi – not by a long shot. I didn't truly know a way to gauge my power. The only good assessment to test my power would be if I entered the Chūnin Exams, which wasn't happening for a very long time, in my opinion.

I stopped thinking about my ninja duties, and I instead enjoyed my stroll through the town. I calmly ignore the passing people's glares. Despite me not having an exact destination, and besides the glares I'm getting as I walk past some of the stores, I am enjoying this. The day is nice, the sun is shining right over my head and a nice breeze is in the air. It's cool, and crisp. I always liked when the weather was like this. Not overly hot, yet not too cold. It was one of the better days in May.

I walked aimlessly for a little while longer, letting my feet carry me to a destination until I stopped in front of a restaurant. I read the sign and I see its Ichiraku's. I grinned and step inside, sending out a small "hi" to the owner of the ramen resturant. I remembered Teuchi-san very much, as the man who would treat me to free ramen when I was younger, who was kind to me and never said nasty things behind my back about me. Him and his daughter had been blessings in my life, and they were the very few people that didn't treat me like a sub-human.

Ayame-neechan walked away from the counter, hugging me tightly, while at the same time scolding me about never coming around anymore. Teuchi-jiji jokes that his restaurant is missing its restaurant's most devoted patron's money. I know he doesn't mean so. It's just a way of saying he misses me too.

I grinned weakly at them, telling Ayame-neechan and Teuchi-jiji I would visit more and eat plenty of ramen to make up for my missed days.

Hopefully, I'm telling the truth to them.

* * *

I heard a knock at my door, just as I was closing my eyes to sleep in for the night. I was in my apartment, topside, deciding to pay it a trip in the day. After spending a few hours cleaning it up, taking a shower, and eating dinner at Ichiraku's, I decided tonight was going to be a night I just stay in in my home.

I was just ready to sleep too, and then the knock woke me up. The knocks were getting louder and persistent as I tried to ignore them. Finally, after the fifth knock, I got up, growling in annoyance. _'Fine, fine. If it will shut this damn person up, I'll answer the door.'_

I get up and I peeked into my door's seeing glass, and looked confused.

"Naruto."

"Danzō-sensei?" I raised my yellow eyebrow, eying the man with wonder. Why was he here at my apartment at this hour? "What are you doing here?"

"Was I supposed to not be here?" Sensei gave me a look that would not be happy if I said "no".

I shrugged. He was my sensei, and my leader – he could go anywhere he wanted. I was surprised however that he had came up to my doorstep. Usually, he was pretty cautious about these kinds of things. Approaching my house and stuff in the open. However, it was 11 at night, and not many people were up at this hour. Hell, I was going to go to sleep soon too.

"Am I needed now?"

"No, you're not. I am here to see how you are doing."

I was immediately confused. Sensei was not what I would call a warm man. In fact, he was pretty cold some days. It was after dinner and usually after dinner, Sensei retired back into his home across town. Making a house visit like this was unlike him. "I'm fine, Sensei."

"Hmm. Are you? Usually you stay at the base and not at your house."

I hold back a curse. I didn't do anything wrong now, I just wanted to stay away from Root for a little while. A day to myself, without anyone to bother me. Was that much to ask? "I came to here for a little while, checked on my apartment, and then took a nap inside. Since it became late, I decided to just crash here for tonight."

He nodded, and asked, "Is it okay if I come inside? It won't be very long."

I nodded, despite wanting nothing more to just shut the door on Sensei and go back to sleep. "Sure." I scratched my head and walked inside. Sensei closes the door behind him and lets himself in. I went into my kitchen, and went to my fridge, "Do you want something to drink?"

"No. I won't be here for long." I nodded, and just went towards my couch and plopped down on it. Sensei follows the same suit, albeit he sits on my sofa much more softly. "I was sure you were being bugged by something."

"What do you mean?"

"Usually, you're very energetic and full of life."

"I just woke up." I retorted, chuckling a little. "I was sleeping before you came up here, Sensei."

I said that last comment quite matter-of-factly, perhaps a little too quickly for his taste. His face turned strict, edging out in a no-nonsense expression. It no longer had that friendly, almost grandfatherly look Danzō-sensei had when addressing me. It was a look a leader, or master, gave to his subject, or slave.

"Do not play games with me, boy. I know you long enough to know when you're lying to me."

"Oh?" He truly could see through me? I thought I was

"You're not your usual self. You been moping around Root for several days now. At first, I simply dismissed as you being focused and much more calm, which was what I was pleased about. Now, you seem to be now distracted by something. What is it?"

I winced. Was I that transparent? Not even five minutes inside my house, and he read me like I was a book. I could hear him tapping his cane on my floor. He wants

Then something changed slightly. He paused, ceased the impatient tapping of his cane on my wooden floor, and did the most quietest of sighs I ever heard him utter from his lips. He gave me a stern, but considerably softer look. "Tell me, Naruto. I don't need you to worry over something. Tell me what is wrong."

I paused, looking at him with another raised eyebrow. He looks back at me, his face blank completely neutral. If this was a staring contest, I would lose. I could stare at him forever, and he wouldn't blink. So I sighed. "The second test. I know it was necessary, but I can't stop thinking about it." I went to sleep thinking about, sometimes waking up thinking about it. I didn't want to tell him that at all. What would be the point? Hell, with some much emotion I was showing, he probably would want to revise my emotion training again.

After a few more seconds of digesting what he heard, Sensei retorted, with a nod and a small frown. "Torture is as much physical pain as it is psychological. I am preparing you in case this ever happens to you. Everyone in Root has gone through it." The man's eye narrowed. "I have faced several times being tortured where I was captured behind enemy lines, punched and kicked repeatedly until they got what they wanted. They never did and when I had my chance to strike, I killed them all. That, or my team retrieved me. It's something that probably will never wear off, but fade and dull, much like a scar.

"If you desire to be in my organization, you will have to get over it." He said, coldly. "You wanted to be a shinobi, a strong one. You want to become Hokage. Do you remember when you told me that?"

I nodded slowly. It was one of the first weeks of starting training with the old man. He asked me what I wanted to do with my life, and I told him to be the strongest ninja alive; to become the Hokage. "Do you believe a Hokage cries about his troubles, and mopes around like you been doing? No. No he does not. He is a leader to his people, an inspiration of the youth, a defender of peace, and the strongest ninja the country has to offer. He shelters other people's pains, while discarding his own. He serves the country, his village, and pledges to their welfare – nothing else. Such is the same of all shinobi of this village. You protect the weak, and you protect your fellow countrymen. You defend the peace, and you pledge yourself to the welfare of the village. Nothing more, nothing less. Leave your scars to heal, and dull."

Sensei put his hand on my shoulder, holding there firmly. "I do not want to see you cry about this anymore. I want to see you improve. I want to see you grow strong. Live up to your dreams, and live up to your expectations. Do not let your second test affect you anymore, Naruto. Do you understand?"

I lowered my head, agreeing with the man. "Yes, sensei. I understand. I won't let it affect me."

"See to it that it does not." Sensei said evenly, patting my shoulder twice. "Now, about why I came besides a small... Pep talk. It's about your final test."

"The final test?"

"Yes. I hope you didn't plan anything tomorrow, because it will be conducted tomorrow at 9AM. This will settle once and for all if you belong in Root."

_The final test_, I parroted to myself with something bubbling inside of me when he said those words. Trepidation, excitement, and wonder pooled in my stomach in a colored, distorted mess. Trepidation for what's to come, excitement for finally being done with my trials, and wonder of how life would be after I made it into Root. What would be happening after I joined the Foundation?

"What will this test consist of? Do I have to master something complex?"

"It's very simple. It's a fight." The old man said. "You have never truly gotten into a fight, a battle outside of supervised and peer-to-peer sparring. This is much different. This, is a fight for your life. For the last test, you will be killing someone in order to live and prosper in Root."

* * *

April 25 – Danzō's Musings

The director of Root at his desk in Root, for once deep in his own thoughts. It was time. 9 o'clock, on the dot.

He had sent Fū to retrieve Naruto, and Torune to retrieve Shin about 10 minutes ago; yesterday both he had instructed them to stay the night in Root. He knew Naruto had gone to his apartment yesterday to spend the night. Shin had told him when he simply asked him in the hallway. It took little convincing to tell the boy to come back to the Root Homebase last night. Now, he was alone in his office, thinking to himself about the boy, Naruto and his progress.

Naruto's introduction into Root was going smoothly. His training was going swimmingly, as the boy absorbed everything he decided he needed to learn. He was fluid with his taijutsu, he was gaining some good experience with fūton techniques and his kenjutsu was increasing drastically. The fact that he has given Naruto the **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu **had helped increase his training as well. The boy was absorbing information, like a sponge absorbed water.

Naruto was also calmer and much more respectful. More times, he called him "sensei" and not "jiji" or something silly like that. His second test had scared him out of his mind. Which he had wanted, though he could do without Naruto still stuck on the fact that he was actually tortured.

_Such was the way of life_, Danzō told himself with confidence. A shinobi's life was a brutal affair, and often short. "We live by the blade, always,"his old sensei had once told him. "A ninja's life was filled with trials, death, and destruction. Either dealt by our hands or others." He had said that, a few months before his own life was done in by war. The First Shinobi World War had been a reminder of that fact.

But Naruto had potential, unlike any other he had trained. That potential was even higher than the other successful and powerful shinobi he had known. It was somewhat unusual for him to place such high prestige on such a person, but Naruto had too many contributing factors that could not be overlooked.

He was the Kyūbi jinchūriki, which meant he had a lot to live up to. He couldn't be any weak child, screaming his head off somewhere without doing something great with that inner power. He is the son of Minato Namikaze, the infernal Yondaime Hokage who was one of the strongest shinobi Konohagakure ever produced. He is the son of the fūinjutsu master, and last pure Uzumaki of the country, Kushina Uzumaki, who taught everything she knew to her lover, Namikaze. He had connections with the other Hokages as well, the godson of Jiraiya, who was taught by Hiruzen Sarutobi, Konoha's strongest Hokage, who was taught by the Shodai, and Nidaime Hokage. He had so much potential, and he would squeeze all that potential out of the boy like he was a washcloth.

But the best – and almost even frightening – thing about the boy was that he was simply determined, motivated, _forced _to become something great. Naruto wanted strength beyond anything else, willing to obtain it whatever way he could. He absorbed everything, was showing that with hard work, and potential, he could do anything he wanted to. He was the perfect soldier. He could be the perfect soldier. It just took a little more time, a little more tapping into that infinite pool of power he had.

Naruto was slowly taking his job and training much more seriously. He was improving quicker, and down the path Danzō wanted him to go down.

He woke up every morning by his leader's command. He didn't skip out on his training regime. He did not complain about it. He liked it. He liked getting stronger. Not to mention, he had people to stay here for.

Danzō wasn't blind to his interactions with Sai, Shin and Amaya. Naruto was also receptive with Genkai as well. He had no problem adjusting to Genkai's presence or newer teaching style. He had his bonds to this village, to his leaders, and to him. Show enough kindness towards him, and you could get Naruto to do anything you wanted. He had his friends, he had loved ones, and he would allow Naruto to gain more friends. More people to rely on and more people that could serve to keep him happy in Konoha.

The old man didn't stop there in his thoughts. Perhaps he would even arrange a relationship for the boy later in his life. Having a lover would solidify his ties to the village even more. Giving him a reason to fight. Perhaps a co-worker, or a member of Root. However, that would be much later, when he knew Naruto had obtained enough power to be considered a jōnin. He was well on his way to being on a chūnin's level. Beyond a genin's meager level now, Naruto had already mastered his elemental training, and was on his way to learning several wind release techniques. Perhaps when the time was right, he would instruct Genkai to teach him the ways of shape transformation so Naruto could start constructing his own techniques as well.

Handling Naruto's conditioning was much more different than other members of Root, whom he had broken easily in since they started with nothing. Naruto, on the other hand, was a different case, and he had to be handled with care, love and affection. Lots of praising, and acknowledging him. So much coddling that it made him somewhat gag, but Danzō gritted his teeth through it all. Naruto was so needy, that it annoyed him completely, but he knew that there was no other way around it.

Having Naruto on their side had been a good thing to invest in, and Danzō had swayed many to keep Konoha's dominance over the other nations exact. He would encourage him, then he would make him see the ways of the real world so he could completely devout himself to the village.

Normal members of the group only had allies in Root themselves. They lived to serve and protect. Drones. That was what sated them. Naruto lived for something else – someone to validate his existence. He needed different reasons to stay, instead of simply ordering him to stay, and to sit. He wasn't simply a dog, who loved you because you kept him fed.

Naruto was something else indeed. Danzō knew he made the right choice approaching him. He couldn't thank the people of Konoha enough for making Naruto the way he was. Hell, even Namikaze had his hand in it all. If Naruto grew up with people praising him, having bonded with others in the village, he might never have gotten his chance.

That didn't mean Naruto didn't need people outside Root. Root would only so much keep Naruto tethered. He needed to place other anchors in the village. Perhaps nowhere near Sarutobi's feet, or Naruto could be uprooted, and this whole thing would be for nothing.

Should Naruto prove himself worthy, he would allow him to have friends outside of Root. The "Darkness Of Shinobi" had many plans for the Kyūbi jinchūriki. Many plans. He had plans to make the perfect soldier. Out of all the tools he had acquired in the past, Naruto was serving to be a beautiful investment.

So many of his "grand" investments went sour, and they either turned out dead or traitor to the village.

Take Orochimaru for example. The foolish Orochimaru, who betrayed his village to join up with the terrorist group, Akatsuki. An organization he was so sure once that he and Sanshōshou no Hanzō, the once great leader of Amegakure, had dealt with in the Second Shinobi World War. Another subject that left a bad taste in his mouth besides the snake man who wielded the legendary Kusanagi sword.

The Shimura clansman didn't know what to think about the young man, Orochimaru. He had given him much of his time. He made Orochimaru grow stronger, and allowed Orochimaru's brutal experiments. Once, Orochimaru was committed, like him, to making Konohagakure a utopia. A village that guided the other of the Great Villages to a great path of peace between each one of them. In a small surge of pride, and perhaps, even empathy, he seen a little of himself in Orochimaru.

Orochimaru was a younger version of himself. He had lost his loved ones to a war he could not control. A war before his own time. The Warring States were almost as bad as the First Shinobi World War – a pissing contest between many clans of the land.

Orochimaru and him grew up, wanting to protect Konohagakure and usher his own version of peace. He did not bath in the sunlight like a leaf. He worked and pulled strings in the shadows. Toiling in darkness so things could remain safe in the village. He was radically different than his teammates, who followed Sarutobi's flawed ideology. He was also radically _stronger_ than them.

Finally, Orochimaru was a thinker, much like Danzō. They thought about the future when they lived in the present. They thought several scenarios to one thing, they always what they could do to improve themselves. They were true shinobi, and even to this day, he couldn't help but feel respect for Orochimaru. Not because he was a missing-nin. He had no love lost for traitors. Not because he was a criminal. He, himself, was a criminal. The experiments they did together could easily get his head stuck on a pike.

No, he respected Orochimaru because he was driven. He was willing to do anything to usher about his own version of peace. However, that did not mean he agreed one bit with Orochimaru turning into a missing-nin to do so. He wasn't discreet with his experiments anymore. He was angry with not becoming the Yondaime Hokage so much that he decided to just go about and do what he wanted in public. Capturing children to experiment on with the Wood Release. Even if it was so Konohagakure could be the strongest nation in the world. He could have waited and became the Hokage after that. Namikaze didn't live very long anyway after the Kyūbi attacked.

His experiments could have bred many soldiers, committed under one flag, and under his rule. He even played once with the idea of allowing Orochimaru to become the Yondaime Hokage, and him becoming his top adviser. Together, they could had made Danzō's dream come to life... but unfortunately fate had another plan.

The mark that Minato Namikaze made on the world in the Third Shinobi World War was too great to ignore. He was incredibly strong, driven, and followed the 'Will Of Fire' like a textbook. It was a shame he couldn't get to him and help him harness his strength before that buffoon Jiraiya got to him. Namikaze was also stronger than Orochimaru had ever been. He had killed hundreds of men in the time span of five minutes with his technique, the **Hiraishin no Jutsu**, a technique the Nidaime Hokage had created. Minato had only taken it to higher heights. He couldn't be ignore, and that's why he was named the Yondaime Hokage by Hiruzen. Minato had Jiraiya's teachings too instilled in him, and Jiraiya's teachings were also Hiruzen's.

Orochimaru then had become disillusioned and left. Danzō felt frustration for his former underling. _'Foolish boy,' _he thought with a tight scowl on his face.

How impatient. Orochimaru could have waited.

The old Shimura himself had waited decades for an opportunity to become the Hokage. Why couldn't the snake man do the same? As it was now, Orochimaru was a missing-nin associated with the terrorist group named the Akatsuki. He may have respect for Orochimaru, but the man was as much as a fool as Tsunade was. Jiraiya wasn't as stupid as the two. At least Jiraiya served his purpose as the village's spymaster. He may have had a few bad words for the man's own "personality quirks", but he was a worthy shinobi, strong and firm in protecting Konohagakure from danger.

Even if he despised Orochimaru, he respected him nonetheless. His contributions to Konohagakure before he left couldn't be ignored, no matter how much Hiruzen didn't like to acknowledge it.

He felt only disdain for the last of the Sannin. Once a great role model for medical-nin out there, and kunoichi, Tsunade was now a shell of a herself, an excessive drinker and gambler. She was an embarrassment to Konohagakure, an embarrassment to the once great Senji Clan, and had been such for years. Even if she was a retired ninja, she still reflected Konoha.

And she reflected it terribly. She was too caught up with her own problems, too wrapped in the tragedies of her past. Where was she when the Third Shinobi World War had begun? Where had she been when Kyūbi attacked? When the Uchiha Massacre happened, where was she? The answer: in a casino, making a fool of herself. After the Second Shinobi World War, she retired and ran away from the village with her deceased lover's niece. After that, Konohagakure never even heard from her for years, until she made an insulting nickname for herself and a ridiculous debt worth anyone's notice. She was useless, and if it wasn't for being a waste of his resources, he would have had her eliminated. She was a potential threat to Konohagakure as well.

What if she was captured by Kumo or Iwa, or Kiri, and they used her intelligence to destroy Konoha? What if she willingly joined them to sell Konoha out? She must have not been completely loyal to the village if she left here because of two people that she cared about died. People died all the time. Wasn't she used to that, as a medic-nin? She herself killed any people before and during the war. How naïve could a person be?

If Tsunade had died or was killed by one of Konohagakure's enemies, it would be a godsend.

Bah, it was time to forget about the foolish Sannin. He had a newer project to tend to, and this one, so far was going well. Naruto was much like Orochimaru, driven to become strong. Soon, he would be driven, much like him, to usher peace in the right way.

Making Naruto join him had been relatively easy. Unlike other members of the group, a promise of power wasn't the only thing the boy needed to follow his group. Danzō knew he needed to use something else, something more personal.

The boy was an orphan, starving for attention, care, love and acknowledgment. Instead of needing someone to give him power solely, he needed to be acknowledged. By his friends, by his comrades, and by his mentors. He need lots of encouragement, a generous amount of praise, and someone to give the illusion of being proud of him. This made Naruto malleable. Easy to shape in the way he wanted him. This gave leverage over the boy, now that the Shimura was one of the people Naruto cared about in his life. He had given that boy countless hours of the day to him, asking his questions, and solving every problem with him. Perhaps one day when he needed to do so, he could turn Naruto against Hiruzen as well.

He felt something somewhere inside him, a small part of him regretting the thought of killing his friend, but he ruthlessly stomped that feeling out. He knew it was necessary. Hiruzen was soft. He was unwilling to do the things Konohagakure needed to do to get ahead, and the "Will Of Fire" was getting nowhere closer to that peace they both envisioned the world to have one day when they were children.

Ultimately, he was the only friend he could ever have. Despite not agreeing with his ideology, he felt connected with Hiruzen. They had been brothers in arms, brothers in death, brothers in everything. It didn't feel right to kill his brother – not like this. Hiruzen was only doing what he was doing right. Not to mention it would cause too much panic. He couldn't take the title like that. However, that didn't mean that Hiruzen's death was off completely.

He wouldn't kill Hiruzen anytime sooner, but should the opportunity present itself, he would take it. Because it was necessary. Hiruzen was strong, that he had no doubt, but that strength could lead Konoha to disaster.  
The three wars had been made because of the four previous Hokage's belief in the Will Of Fire.

The Shodai was strong, but ultimately, naïve. Dangerously giving their weapons, the tailed beasts, to other nations. Giving Madara Uchiha the chance to live for so long, instead of dealing with him the day he decided to try to destroy the village. In the end, he was dealt with, but the Hokage came so close to bringing ruin into the starting village.

The Nidaime was more pragmatic, but he was too busy fighting with his own countrymen. He also died so quickly in his reign as Hokage. Sacrificing himself for them. Out of the Hokage the old Shimura respected, Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage, was high in his opinion.

The Sandaime had picked up one of his masters' own naïvety, and was not willing to spread his domainance. His old friend was too soft to do anything big. Too much kowtowing for his tastes.

The Yondaime was perhaps the worse, influenced by three people, Sarutobi, Jiraiya, and Hashirama, who believed in the Will Of Fire. He was the biggest fool of them all, no matter how powerful he was. He was glad he was dealt with, to be honest.

The current Hokage needed to die.

Danzō Shimura deemed it as such firmly in his head, and he would not feel a bit of sorrow tomorrow. Just like he didn't feel sorry when he orchestrated Naruto's torture. Just like he didn't feel sorry when he used Naruto's emotions to keep him tied to Konohagakure. Naruto was a jinchūriki, a shinobi, and those titles were tools. Tools were made to be used.

And he would use Naruto. He just needed to break him down, and shape him. His perfect soldier, his perfect tool.

His perfect lap dog.

The next test would break him, no doubt, when he passed it. He knew he was going to. He had no choice.

And that's what made Naruto admirable.

* * *

_**End.**_

**A/N: **Danzō, the king of bastards (literally, get it? Bland orphan joke), has something in store for Naruto, but what?

I wanted to include a newer thing in this story – a section that goes out of Naruto's perspective and into others, just so you don't miss them. I enjoyed writing this chapter a lot.

Onto the next. That will be coming in a few more days after I edit it some more. After that, I will take some more time off to edit the next upcoming two, going on three, chapters. I haven't quite gotten down a schedule for uploading, but I do have some plans for this story. Thanks to everyone who's so far liking the story. Really fun writing the story. Always wanted to write a story involving Naruto and Danzō. Review and tell ya friends!

The OCs

Genkai – A character that will now function as Naruto's tutor/mentor in this story. Took over the job from Danzō and has similar abilities and techniques as him. Fiercely loyal to the Foundation, and is a close associate to Danzō. You will see more of him.

**Translation List:**

Fūton: Shinkūjin – Wind Release: Vacuum Blade


	4. Four

Four

This is not a spar. This is a test.

This is not a friendly fight. This is a test.

This is not training. This is a test.

A test. To see who was more deserving of a spot in Root. A test that would lead to either one of our deaths.

I stared at Shin, and he stared back at me. I can feel it in the air. Apprehension, tension, fear. We both tightly gripped our tantō in front of us. Both identical blades. Both of us were frozen. My throat felt dry, and my lips were chapped.

They forced us into an open room where Danzō-sensei stood by, watching us. I could feel his penetrating gaze on me. It was like he was waiting for one of us to make the first move. Anything at all.

We both stood there, frozen, as we stared into each others eyes. It's at this time I think about something that was bugging me. I never killed anyone. Not a single person. I was in fact hoping to avoid it for a while. I knew killing came with being a shinobi. That was our job, or at least, a part of our job, no matter how unavoidable, no matter how unpleasant. I was fine with that.

However, when it came to killing friends, killing someone that was my friend for months now, I wasn't trained for that. Shin wasn't some pathetic bandit, or the traitorous missing-nin. He was a person, he was a _fucking_ person. A friend. A comrade.

A brother.

I'm staring at Shin, and I'm wondering if he's thinking the same thing. If he hadn't killed anyone in his life yet. If he's feeling the same way as me. He looked just as bewildered and afraid as me. He must be the same, right? What could we do?

"Fight." Sensei commanded loudly in the room.

We still do not move and I swore I heard my own heartbeat. I feel like the walls have disappeared. Shadows all around me and Shin, and a spotlight shining on both of us, as if we were the only people in the room. We both stared at each other, and it seemed like it would go on for eons.

I almost didn't hear Danzō-sensei's impatient comment in the room. "If you do not fight, you will never become a part of Root."

I still didn't move. The shadows were gone, and I could see everyone in the room in front of me, but I still was frozen like ice. It took hearing Shin's loud footsteps to snap me out of it, and I threw my short sword up to protect myself from Shin's overhead attack in a split second. I looked at him, and I saw expressions I have never seen in Shin's face before.

Apathy. Indifference. Disregard.

When we sparred, Shin was focused, sure, but he was never this calm. It was a look that reminded me of Genkai-sensei, and Amaya-chan. It chilled my bones.

Slowly, I felt Shin overpowering me. It's not because he's physically stronger than me. It's not because he's taller than me – that didn't matter here. It's not even because he has more experience than I have with a sword.

It's because he was willing to kill me. It was because I wasn't doing anything other than holding my sword up. He was willing to kill off the last bit of his emotions to become a full-fledged Root member. I no longer matter. Becoming a shinobi only mattered to him. He was prepared to kill me just to join Root.

I barely could parry another one of Shin's sword slices after he released me and tried again from another angle. I started to sweat and I backed up from him in fear. It's the one time I feared anything. At that one second, I forgot all about my training. I couldn't help thinking over about Shin's face. Indifference. Apathy. Uncaring. Disregard. Disinterest in my life, and presence. A willingness to erase it.

He did not care. He did not care about killing me. He had no qualms. To him, it was just another Tuesday.

I got stabbed in my shoulder by Shin, and I hissed loudly in pain. I somehow kept the sword in my hands, but it wasn't for long. He mercilessly pulled his blade out of my shoulder, not caring about the sharp, anguished cry that erupts from my lips, and kicked me to the ground. This time, I lost my sword.

I yelped, and I rolled awkwardly on the ground, clutching my bleed shoulder. Actually, it was more of a tumble – I landed on my right forearm and hand in confusion and that might have done more damage that it should have. I can't feel my arm for the time being. A lot of my ninjutsu was out of the question now, and taijutsu as well.

Shin allowed me to get to my feet, and I panted, trying to ignore the pain in my right arm. Of course Shin took out the arm I used to swing my sword around. He's just doing what they taught you in school. Simple as that. I feel like he's smarter than me in that regard. I looked around the room and I saw Torune-san, Fū-san and Danzō-sensei looking at us intently. I caught sensei's gaze, and I immediately saw what he was conveying to me silently.

He's disapproving of me. He's disgusted with me. He wants me to fight, and I'm not fighting yet. I _let_ Shin hit me, I let him score a shot in my shoulder like that. I'm too busy not being a shinobi. I'm being a child. This was the line. The line between being a shinobi and being a kid. I'm not passing that line.

Shin also was staring at me, almost like... He's waiting for me to attack him. He wanted me to fight. He still had his tantō raised to attack me. If I didn't fight, he would kill me. And he wouldn't feel sorry in one bit. It was because he was beyond the line now.

And nobody would remember me. Not a person.

I was starting to feel it now. Adrenaline pumping in my chest, and I growled angrily. I didn't want to die. Not here. Not when I had so many dreams I wanted to accomplish. I wanted acknowledgement, to be respected. I wanted to be great, grand, and the best shinobi Konohagakure could ever produce. My selfish desires were starting to snuff out my fears. I didn't want my dream to be snuffed out like the fears. If Shin wanted a fight, I would give it to him.

I didn't bother trying to retrieve my tantō off the floor. I already have a technique in mind. I instead knead wind chakra into my left hand's fingertips and send a slashing wave of wind his way. It felt awkward, as I wasn't too used to focusing chakra in my left hand. However, it didn't matter now. I had work to do.

Shin's onyx eyes widened, and he barely dodged my attack before it billows its way into the wall in back of him. I rushed towards my opponent, shooting more wind attacks towards him. I swung my fingertips a few more times in the air, sending out almost invisible waves of air. He dodged one or two waves of wind, but Shin couldn't dodge all of them. The first wave hits him, and his skin and face is marred with a myriad of cuts and slices. The second wave hits him, not only cutting him up some more on his face and skin, but it knocks him down.

I was on him like white on rice. Not allowing him to get up, I stabbed him with one of my kunai in his right leg. He cried in pain, and I twisted the blade in his leg further. Then, I tried dragging it down the leg to further incapacitate him. To no avail, however, as Shin kicked me away with his other leg in the chest before I can do even more damage. However, he can't move faster than me now. He's clutching onto the leg, and trying his best to get back up before I do.

He has no time. I got back to my feet, and sent a kick to his teeth. He barely managed to block my savage kick, rolling away, and fought to get back to his feet. Because how much damage I did to his leg, he's struggling to stand up, but he's getting it.

I won't have it. I summoned more wind chakra into my fingertips in my left hand and use the wind release technique I done before. This time, he doesn't dodge, and gets cut up by the wind attack. Genkai-sensei showed me a week ago how to channel wind chakra into my fingertips; a nameless technique that was fast, efficient, and lacked hand seals. He showed me two ways to use it: one way to use it as a short-range technique that acted like a dagger from my fingers, and a mid-range technique that allowed me to push the chakra from my fingertips and blast it towards my opponents. It had interesting effects, with the ranged-version of the unnamed technique able to send out large and sweeping waves of air to my opponent. For the price of chakra, I could use a hand seal-less technique with a decent range of attack.

And it was fast. Wind itself was a fast element, and second only to lightning in terms of speed. Shin had barely dodged the technique last time. This time, however, he was hit dead on by two sweeping waves I sent towards him. Much to his credit, he did not yell loudly in pain, he did not scream. He only took it. I placed enough chakra in the technique to hurt, to incapacitate, but it wasn't enough to kill him. I wasn't aiming for that.

I walked over to him, holding my bloodied shoulder, and he's staring up at me with a pained smile. "You win, Naruto."

I felt almost as if he stabbed me in the gut with his sword. He called me Naruto. Not "dickless" or something just as insulting. Just Naruto. He was acknowledging that he lost one of our spars finally. Then I take a look at Shin, and I see his state. He's bleeding, from head to toe. His right leg was deeply gashed, his shirt and jacket had deep tears in them, and I could see several large cuts in his abdomen and chest.

I wasn't the only one who knew he lost.

"Kill him, Naruto." I heard a cold voice from the room. It's coming from Danzō-sensei and he's tapping his wooden cane on the group, a clear sign of his impatience. "Finish your test."

I'm not looking at sensei, because I know I've got tears coming from my eyes. "But why? Why this? Why not someone else? Shin was my-"

"He was what? Your opponent, your enemy? He attacked you, indiscriminately, and you stood there and took the hit because you were so sure he was your friend." I have never seen this side of sensei at all. Sure, he wasn't the warmest man ever, but he wasn't never this callous, this dismissive. Where was the man who seemed so regretful of torturing me for almost two hours? Was that an illusion? "Despite your error, you proved to me that you're much stronger than your opponent. Much more deserving of the title of Root. Now, it's time to finish what you started. End this."

"But to kill him? Sensei, Shin deserves to be in Root too!"

"Do _not_ call me 'Sensei'." I looked over to his direction with widened eyes. "I am no longer your teacher, but your _master_. You take orders from me. I am no longer that teacher that comforts you, that coddles you, that allows you to show your emotions. I am your master. You will obey my orders, Naruto. As for your 'friend' there, he deserves no such mercy from me.

"You and him were brought in at the same time in the Foundation, trained here at the same time, and were slated from the beginning to fight each other in Root. Shin has proven himself as a failure. He's expendable. All of my soldiers are if they do not prove themselves." The words "Including you" went by unsaid, but I know that's what the man was thinking. "You are either Root, or you are _nothing_. I trained you, brought you up from failure and made you a shinobi. You owe me a great debt. Now, you shall begin to pay it. Shin was strong, but not strong as you are. He has proven it to me. So, you must kill him. Such is my will."

I looked at him with an angry glare. How fucking dare he say that shit? Shin wasn't a fucking tool he could just discard, dammit! Close to screaming at Danzō, I felt someone tugging at my arm, stopping me from doing so. Shin grabbed onto my arm with a shaky hand. "N-Naruto. Kill me."

"W-What?" I barely questioned out, looking into his dull, dark eyes with stark fear. "What did you say?"

"Kill me, Naruto. Finished it up. Become a shinobi. Do it."

"No, no,_ no_!" I'm saying, as my voice starts to get louder and belligerent. "Why, why?! Why you, and why not me? I shouldn't have won!"

"No, Naruto. You earned it. You've grown strong, and we both knew that in an all-out battle, you would have beaten me anyway." I froze, remember my words from earlier being said. I remember proclaiming I could beat Shin in an all-out battle yesterday. Once so arrogantly. "Master wants you to kill me. There is no way else to progress in Root if you don't kill me. Don't defy him. You knew this was the last test."

"No, you don't deserve this. I shouldn't be the one doing this..."

"Trust me, Naruto. If you were the one lying on the ground here, I would have killed you without a second thought." I looked at him with wide eyes. "In Root, there is no meaning of failure because for us, there is no room for it. You either kill or be killed, you either win or go out taking everyone with you. You won, so take your prize... Take me out."

"..." I'm trembling, shaking. I don't care who can see me. I know I am crying. Was this true? Was this the only way?

"It's better this way, trust me." He grinned, not knowing he answered my thoughts. "Don't think about it so much. Remember your training to stay calm in a fight. To suppress your feelings and complete the mission at all cost. It's either Root, or nothing."

My throat is dry, and I'm not focusing on anything, but I found myself nodding stiffly at the gray-haired boy. "I-I didn't want this, Shin. I didn't want any of this."

"I know, but you had no choice. There was no way coming back after this." Shin paused to cough, hacking up some blood from his throat and spat it to the ground. He started to truly show his injuries, wheezing under me. "Uck. Sp-sparing me... Would _never_ allow you to achieve your dream as being a shinobi. E-Even if you spared me, my life... Would be forfeit..."

"..." I knew Shin was telling the truth the more I realized it. Either Shin would be killed by my hand or sensei would leave him here to die. Everyone here was expendable. Everything that failed him was useless. Everything.

And I was too. It didn't matter if I was the demon container of Konohagakure. Not in this situation. Before all this, I never acknowledge my old teacher could be- could be a _bastard_. I always reasoned that this was all necessary and logical. Painful, and maybe brutal, but logical. I never complained much about the training regime anymore because I knew it would push me to higher limits and get me to learn. I was always a tactile learner – I gained more experience actually training than theorizing about it.

The real torture I received was necessary, I reasoned. It was to show me that our world wasn't always bubbly and happy. Information were the life blood of the Elemental Countries. Not every nation was friends with Konohagakure, and war was always around the corner. Capture was possible and it could happen to any ninja out there. I was not special. Torture was very real, and scary.

However, killing one of the trainees? Killing one fellow ninja-in-training? One fellow person who aspired to become a great warrior of Konohagakure? Killing someone who I considered one of my friends?! It wasn't anything logical about that all. I seen what sensei wanted to do. He wanted to kill off our emotions and make us into machines, willing to serve Konohagakure and follow orders without a second guess. If Konohagakure told us to jump off a cliff, we were supposed to follow their orders to the very end. No exceptions.

"Emotions got in the way." "Emotions created opinions." Emotions compromised missions and these were lessons instilled in me from the very first day I hooked up with the director of Root. He wanted us to discard emotions because they were needlessly things to him. Not just us. A true shinobi should lack them, or at the very least know how to subdue them ruthlessly. After they did that, they became true tools. Shinobi, at their core, were tools. After the torture, I almost lost my emotions. I almost didn't care anymore. I felt completely down and then, just so lifeless. Then one day, Shin came by, and cheered me up. He brought me out of that funk. He told me that it was good to spend some time out of the base, and get some fresh air. "Sometimes, roots can grow up above the ground," he had told me.

And now, I was here, being told by everyone to kill him. Shin was telling me himself to kill him. "Come on. Don't-" He is interrupted by his own violent cough. I knew Shin didn't have a lot of time now.

"Don't be such a girl, Naruto," The boy under me hissed, "Take me out already, _dickless_." A dark expression appears on my face, but it's not because of the insult.

_'So... You want me to kill you, Shin? You want me to completely kill off my heart and become a great shinobi? Become greater than you?' _I pulled out a kunai from my back pouch. I gripped it tightly in my calloused hands and my blue eyes become cold. _'You want me to become a tool...'_

_'So be it.'_

I slammed my kunai into his chest, hitting his heart. Anywhere else would lead to Shin suffering more than he already had. I wanted this to finish. He smiled at me one last time, before the shaking started to begin.

I looked over my once best friend, and stared at his shivering body. Shin breathed out his last breath, and then, he was lifeless. No more pained breaths, no more squirming uncomfortably. No more anything.

"Naruto. Your final test is complete. Welcome to Root." My master said to me. "You will no longer adhere to me as 'Danzō-sensei'. I am your master now. No more will I tolerate your emotions, your mistakes, or your _failures_. No longer will I allow you to be selfish. You will no longer hesitate like you have today. You will jump when I say 'jump'. You will awake when I say 'rise'. You will kill in the name of me, and the name of Konohagakure. If you do not listen to me, you will be taken out of the program _forever_. I have no more time for games."

I can hear his fast walking to me, sandals clicking as he stepped towards me. I could feel his glare down to my face. I refused to look up at him, glaring only at the floor. "After you pass the Academy, you will be able to finally to carry on missions for both Root and Konoha. Until then, you will be under Genkai's tutelage. Do you understand?"

"Yes... Danzō-sama." I completely drop the "-sensei" suffix from his name. There was no need for it anymore.

"Look at me, boy." I did so, turning my glare to him. "No more foolishness now, Naruto. Now, you go with the name of Root."

I barely heard Torune and Fū congratulate me. I only nodded and I walked stiffly back to my room in the Root headquarters. I never looked back at Shin as I walked out of my master's office. All I did after I left the room was I jetted straight to my room, closed the room, cried, and went straight to sleep for that night.

* * *

May 10 – Naruto's Second Graduation Day – One Month Later

Hiruzen Sarutobi had been watching after Naruto for the last ten years of Naruto's life, every since Naruto's parents sacrificed themselves in order to not only keep him safe, but the village as well. Their sacrifice lead to the survival of thousands of shinobi that night of the infamous Kyūbi Attack. All in that family, especially Naruto, had sacrificed for the village's welfare. Even if no one wanted to admit it, or forgot, or ignored it.

However, it was not just out of gratitude the Sandaime had been doing it, but out of duty. Looking after Naruto was his duty, and he was entrusted with this duty by Naruto's parents. Minato Namikaze, and Kushina Uzumaki, one of Konohagakure's finest shinobi, with one of them being his direct successor of the title of Hokage.

So he kept tabs on Naruto. It may have not been every hour, but somehow, he always made time for the boy. At least every day. Much to his displeasure, that schedule changed somewhere down the line.

Up until a few months ago, he seen Naruto at least once a day of the week. The boy either joked about taking the hat away from him, or tried to con him into buying him a bowl of ramen.

Now he almost never sees the boy at all. It was no longer a daily affair, or a weekly affair, but bi-weekly, on the same day, on time. No longer was he requested by the boy to see him, or did the boy come up to the administration division of the Academy after his classes, rudely telling him to get up from his desk and eat with him. The Sandaime had tried seeing him, but often, Naruto was out, or it was a brief encounter. The recent activities and troubles of the village had fallen into his lap. Not too long ago had the genocide of the Uchiha Clan happened, and Hiruzen's duties as Hokage was in high demand. No longer could Hiruzen get a chance to see the Uzumaki boy.

Then he got his chance. Last month, he had the chance to, but it had been a newer experience, and confusing one.

When he had seen the boy that day, everything in his body screamed that something was wrong.

Naruto seemed more distant, more colder. He didn't even show that exuberance he had before. There were no more wisecracking, no more laughing. Naruto didn't affectionately call him "old man" or "jiji".

Instead, it was a drab "Hokage-sama" here, and a boring "Sir" there. A serious air was around the boy, something he would only attribute to jōnin who had been shinobi for decades, and took their jobs seriously. This was inappropriate for a young shinobi who was starting to create his career, starting to decide what he wanted to master in life, and where he wanted to go.

It was almost to the point of Naruto being... Lifeless. Like Naruto had already taken in the sorrows of ninja-hood, and let it bother him.

What sucked the life out of this sunny boy he once knew? What caused this lack of feeling or anything like that?

Naruto looked like he lost his drive to lead this village one day. The golden haired half-Uzumaki believed one day that he would gain the title of Hokage, that he would be the Sandaime's successor.

And Hiruzen wanted him to pick up the mantle. This past year at the Academy, Naruto seemed more focused, more driven. He shaped up to being one of the best Academy students of the year. Rookie of the Year status. A far cry from being a dead last last year. The teachers, some disliking the boy outright, begrudgingly admitted that he had talent, much more than the students he had been with. He had passed that graduation exam with flying colors this year as well.

Back then, he was happier, smiling. Focus, and maybe perhaps a little calmer, but not like this.

Naruto's happiness had been changed. He wasn't happy. He wasn't sad. He wasn't angry, and he wasn't hateful.

He looked broken. Indifferent. Stoic. Detached. Isolated. Sure, he smiled sometimes, but they seemed more rehearsed, more just out to be polite and not happy.

Even how the boy visited the Sarutobi felt like a courtesy call, and not just because he wanted to see him. Like it was business. Like it was on schedule.

At times, Hiruzen had to invite him to the office. He had to get one of his ninjas to retrieve him. Then the boy knocked on the door, politely knocked, and came in a slow and careful stride.

It was like he was worried he was going to burst out and act like his older self. He seemed so collected. The start of a "true shinobi". Words from people who truly believed a shinobi could completely kill off their emotions to become strong warriors.

A shinobi was a human at their core. When they went to sleep and dreamt. When they had their first kiss, their first love, their family, and their friends. They had flesh, they bled, they cried, they felt sad, they felt angry, they felt annoyance, they were always human. Even when they tried to suppress it. It was there, and when it bottled up there for so long, one day it would come out like a flood. Something would set off. Something. And Naruto looked like he was holding something in.

Hiruzen once reasoned that the boy simply was in his own devises, getting ready for the outside world and to become a shinobi. It was a stressful task, and Naruto was shedding away his childhood to become a ninja of Konoha.

But now, he was convinced that something was wrong with the boy.

And now there was something his table, some form requesting he signed the boy off to a jōnin. A ninja the Hokage knew by the name of Genkai Hayashi. He remembered his name.

Genkai had been one of the handful of orphans from the Third Shinobi World War. His parents had died one of the many battles of the violent war when he was just two years old. After then, he was sent to the Academy, rose up as a talent shinobi, and after becoming a genin, rose to chūnin in the short time of a year, and then quietly became a jōnin two years later. Hayashi grew up fast, in the hostile environment of the end of the Third Shinobi World War.

After the war, it was confirmed, however, that Hayashi was also affiliated with the organization he disbanded a long time ago: Root. An organization that operated heavily in the Second, and Third Shinobi World War. A group that was supposed to be dealt with a time ago. Because of his old friend, his habits for taking in orphans, and turning them into this supposed thing Danzō once referred to as "true shinobi".

A lot of orphans came out of the Third Great War, some successful, but affected. Affected by war. Affected by not having a childhood, but having a grand dream. Others, notorious for being criminals because no one showed them the way. Because no one cared for them. A lot of them were then taken in by someone who promised them power and respect. Hayashi was one of them poor souls who had no one, but a large dream, and was taken in by Root.

Minato Namikaze's son wasn't different. Naruto Uzumaki wasn't a war orphan, but rather... He was a survivor of another large incident. The Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha could never be forgotten. Naruto may have not know it, but that was the reason he was treated so horribly by people. He had no idea why, he couldn't imagine being hated for something he couldn't control. Naruto grew up, wanting to become a great shinobi, something he respected and wanted to be since he was a child. Hiruzen entertained the dream, believe he could achieve through hard work, dedication to his village, and with his friends.

But he also knew Naruto grew up too fast. Now, Naruto started to emulate the traits of Root soldiers before him that had little to no childhood. Serious, calm, apathetic, and willing to do whatever it took for the country to exist, even if it meant destroying the relationship Hi no Kuni had with all the other lands out there.

Was Naruto supposed to be something like that now? A super soldier with suppressed emotions?

The Hokage winced slightly, a small knot in his stomach developing. Another child soldier was created. Was it wrong that a secret part of him wanted Naruto to fail again, just so he can get a little older – maybe 12 – and become a ninja? Just so he could experience a good life before stepping into this dark underworld of ninja-hood? Just so he could laugh, play with other children, and enjoy himself? Maybe he could become friends with someone, anyone that could keep him away from this trouble?

Hiruzen reasoned to himself that it was wrong. Naruto had no such good life.

Just yesterday, he was 5, clamoring about how he wanted to become a ninja, and to become a Hokage. He was boisterous, happy, and full of dreams.

Now, he was calm, so calm that he seemed like a lifeless doll. No, not a doll.

Much like a tool. He had seen this before. It all screamed to him that something happened to Naruto to make him change his ways.

What else was off was that Genkai Hayashi, a former Root member, had been the one who asked for Naruto. He, who had no known connection with Naruto, asked him, instead of the last surviving member of Team Minato, Kakashi Hatake. Instead of Naruto's missing godfather, Jiraiya. Immediately, his suspicions on why Genkai asked for him, but Sarutobi had no time, or no cause of investigation other than suspicions.

For all he knew, Genkai was just interested in the prospect of Naruto Uzumaki, a boy who passed the Academy with flying colors after his remedial year. A fact that Sarutobi was proud about. The boy had potential that could not be overlooked, attention from mamy people... But that sometimes brought in vultures as well. People who were willing to get Naruto for their own purposes. People who said they meant well for Konohagakure, but they really weren't.

...

He would have to start paying more attention to Naruto Uzumaki. He wanted no Itachi Uchiha, no Orochimaru, nothing like that. He wanted Naruto to mature when he was ready to, not because he was forced to. Not because he had no choice. Perhaps it was too late to stop that now but he would be there now. He would be there when Naruto became a hero of the village. A household name and tale.

If the opposite happened, he would be there too. Should everything fall down, he would there for the fall.

If Naruto ever became a threat to Konoha, he would be there. To stop it.

* * *

**_End._**

**A/N:** Thus the end of Naruto's admission to Root. A shorter chapter than the last two, but I still like how it came out to be. Short, and sweet (or tragic, depending on your definition). Now, we move on to more action in the near future. Still a lot of drama along the way, though. Next chapter will also have a sprinkle of action.

My uploading speed will slow down from here. I decided that it's best I write up a few chapters, then upload one or two at a time, instead of putting everything out. That way, I'll always have something in store, and don't have to worry about anything. I want this story to be the story I finally finished. So I'm going to focus a lot of my energy into it. Pray for me. I think I just put a shotgun to my head, ready to go off should I fail to live up to that promise.

Up next, in the next chapters to come: more drama, a newer arc, newer characters, and newer things.

Thanks for reading.


End file.
